Sir Henry Lee

Sitterback to top

• Sir Henry Lee (1533-1611), Master of the Ordnance. Sitter associated with 5 portraits.

Artistback to top

• Anthonis Mor (Antonio Moro) (1516-1575 or 1576), Portrait painter. Artist associated with 17 portraits, Sitter associated with 4 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Sir Henry Lee, one of Elizabeth I's favourite courtiers, was responsible for organising the Accession Day tilts, chivalric events in honour of the Queen. This portrait was painted on a visit to Antwerp in June 1568. The rings which Lee wears and the true-lovers' knots and armillary spheres on his sleeves probably have personal symbolic significance. These patterns were marked out using a transfer technique called pouncing, whereby charcoal dust is shaken through pricked holes to mark out a design. Lee later patronised the artist Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger to paint the 'Ditchley portrait' of Elizabeth I.

Linked publicationsback to top

• Tudor Portraits Resource Pack, p. 24
• Clare Gittings, The National Portrait Gallery Book of Elizabeth I, 2006, p. 24
• Cooper, John, A Guide to the National Portrait Gallery, 2009, p. 11
• Cooper, Tarnya; Fraser, Antonia (foreword), A Guide to Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, 2012, p. 15
• Gittings, Clare, The National Portrait Gallery Book of The Tudors, 2006, p. 26
• MacLeod, Catharine, Tudor Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery Collection, 1996, p. 24
• Nicholl, Charles, Insights: Shakespeare and His Contemporaries, 2005, p. 12
• Ribeiro, Aileen, The Gallery of Fashion, 2000, p. 40
• Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery: An Illustrated Guide, 2000, p. 38
• Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery, 1997, p. 38
• Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 372
• Strong, Roy, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, 1969, p. 190

Subject/Themeback to top

• On display at the Gallery