Elizabeth I: the “Sieve” Portrait

Posted by on Mar 13, 2014


In a portrait of Elizabeth I painted when the queen was 46, Kate and Ben see “a face capable of both greatness and cruelty.” It’s a disturbing thought, since Kate is said to bear an uncannily close likeness to the young Elizabeth.

Originally built as a private retreat for the library’s founders, Henry and Emily Folger, the room resembled an Elizabethan withdrawing room or parlor, with rectangular paneling in dark oak, a beamed ceiling, polished hardwood floors, and blind leaded windows filled with opaque glass. In the middle stretched a long carved table surrounded by chairs a little too delicate for the rest of the room. Presiding over the whole was a magnificent portrait of Queen Elizabeth I….

 

I gazed up at the queen. Her gown of red velvet and padded ivory satin worked in gold and pearls set off a fair complexion, deep red curls, and black eyes. In one hand, she held a sieve, symbol of her persona as the Virgin Queen. The painter had given her a face capable of both greatness and cruelty.

 

Interred With Their Bones

Elizabeth I, the Plimpton Sieve Portrait by George Gower (1579)
Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *