Sir Henry Lee
(1533-1611), Master of the OrdnanceSitter in 5 portraits
A favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, Lee was the originator of the annual Accession Day Tilts on 17 November; chivalric events in honour of the Queen, and the most important Elizabethan court festival from at least 1581. He was the first person to hold the office of Queen's Champion, which he resigned in 1590. Lee later patronised the artist Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger to paint the 'Ditchley portrait' of Elizabeth I. His epitaph records him as a man who served 'five succeeding princes, and kept himself right and steady in the many dangerous shocks and utter turns of state'.
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.