In No. 616, which again may be by Zuccaro, she is dressed in black and white with a high ruff, her hair in small rows of curls, with a fan in her small, white hand. In No. 635 she is every inch a queen, with the "crown imperiall" on her head, the sceptre in her right hand, and the orb in her left. Two ladies stand behind her. In front are Juno, Pallas, and Venus, who all show surprise, admiration, and submission to this mightier divinity.
The frame bears an inscription which shows the spirit of the composition:—
Juno potens sceptris et mentis acumine Pallas;
Et roseo Veneris fulget in ore decus;
Adfuit Elizabeth, Juno perculsa refugit;
Obstupuit Pallas, erubuitque Venus."
Her dress is magnificent, her face far more pleasing and gracious than in other works. The artist was Lucas da Heere, who painted the picture in 1569, when the Queen was thirty-six.
A portrait of her in old age[1] completes the list. Here she is in white, with a red silk head-dress and a close ruff. This is believed to be the work of Marcus Gheerardt—Garrard, as the English called him—the elder. This is dignified, astute, weary, and an admirable completion of the cycle of portraits, which shows her in prim youth, artificial womanhood, queenly dignity, and cunning old age.
With Elizabeth the Tudor portraits end. There
- ↑ No. 619.
