Rare Portraits Reveal How Elizabeth I Turned Image Into Power
By Jo Lawson-Tancred
A new exhibition at London's Philip Mould & Company unpacks the image-making behind the queen's reign.
Elizabeth I was the last great ruler of the Tudor dynasty and, much like her forebears, she shaped her public image through portraiture. This summer, a suite of rarely seen paintings that reveal the life and legend of the “Virgin Queen” is going on display in London.
Fashion, symbolism, and a commanding pose—these are hallmarks of the sumptuously detailed portraits that have come to define the Tudor era. The new exhibition “Elizabeth I: Queen and Court” at Philip Mould & Company in London will bring together four portraits of the queen that trace her life from princess to formidable leader. They are united with paintings of key courtiers and political rivals from the time of her reign, further demonstrating how Tudor portraiture was used to assert ambition and shape the narrative.
The ostentation and theatricality of these paintings is what immediately excites the viewer, but they also bring us face-to-face with the personalities of the past. “The faces are painted with striking realism influenced by Netherlandish art,” explained gallerist Philip Mould. “The result is a fascinating tension between symbolism and humanity.”
Constructing an Icon
The Elizabethan era, from 1558 to 1603, was a period of relative stability and cultural flourishing for England, sometimes described as a “golden age.” The religious turmoil of the reign of Elizabeth’s sister and predecessor Mary Tudor had came to an end, while economic growth and maritime exploration paved the way for England to become a global power. The Spanish Armada of 1588 was defeated, and Shakespeare became the figurehead of an English Renaissance in poetry, music, and literature.
But who was the queen behind it all? Though Elizabeth remained something of an enigma, she was broadly popular with her subjects and had the respect of her male peers. This was thanks to a strategically constructed persona, in which the “soft power” of art played a pivotal role.
In her portraits as a young princess, Elizabeth is depicted as “a relatively restrained and pious ruler, emphasizing virtue and learning,” said Mould. But by the time of the resplendent “Hampden portrait”—the first full-length state portrait of Elizabeth as queen, made when she was around 30-years-old—”we encounter an image announcing fertility and marriageability.” This may have helped assuage fears about her succession plan.
Of course, the so-called Virgin Queen would not, ultimately, produce an heir. Never submitting to the influence of a foreign husband, Elizabeth famously declared herself to be married to her kingdom. Later portraits show her as “a symbolic figure,” explained Mould, “surrounded by emblems of purity, power, and almost mythic authority.”
“What we see over time is the transformation of a human monarch into a carefully constructed icon,” he said.
Portraits of Power
The exhibition will pull viewers into the queen’s world by introducing us to her confidants and her adversaries. One example is Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, her close companion and most trusted advisor. According to Mould, his portraits are typical of the era in how they “used armor, elaborate lace, or symbolic jewels to project chivalry and refinement.” As well as appearing powerful, these men hoped to project “charisma, presenting themselves as gallant figures,” whose service to their queen was almost romantic.
Another notable example is a portrait of Elizabeth’s cousin, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, who was implicated in several Catholic plots against Elizabeth, a Protestant, including one attempt to overthrow and replace her. This act of treason left Elizabeth with no choice but to sign Mary’s death warrant.
One particularly rare portrait to be included in the exhibition is a record of the political commentator John Stubbs, who published a pamphlet opposing the Queen’s proposed marriage to the Catholic Duke of Anjou. He was punished for this “seditious” act by having his right hand cut off. A hidden panel on the portrait can be opened to reveal the severed hand.
“It was almost certainly owned by someone sympathetic to Stubbs’s cause,” suggested Mould. “In a period when openly criticizing the Queen could be dangerous, such a portrait would have allowed its owner to signal political support quietly and discreetly.”
The portraits of Mary and Stubbs reveal something of the vulnerability of Elizabeth’s position, and the need to constantly reassert her authority. Yet the celebrated queen did successfully navigate treacherous court politics, cementing her reputation as a strong and shrewd leader for centuries to come.
Or, as one of Elizabeth’s many admirers, Pope Sixtus V, once said: “She is only a woman—only mistress of half an island—and yet she makes herself feared by Spain, by France, by the Empire, by all.”
“Elizabeth I: Queen and Court” is on view at the gallery from 14th May until 10th July 2026.
