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Bess of Hardwick

(circa 1527-1608), Noblewoman; wife of 6th Earl of Shrewsbury

Elizabeth ('Bess') Talbot (née Hardwick), Countess of Shrewsbury

Sitter associated with 3 portraits
'Bess of Hardwick' was one of the wealthiest people in late Elizabethan England, and an important patron of architecture. She acquired her wealth through a succession of four progressively more profitable marriages, and through her own business acumen. She is remembered mainly for the house she had built at Hardwick, to a plan by the great Elizabethan architect Robert Smythson (c.1535-1614).

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Bess of Hardwick

by Unknown artist
oil on canvas, probably 17th century, based on a work of circa 1590
NPG 203

Unknown woman, engraved as Bess of Hardwick

by George Vertue, after Cornelius Johnson (Cornelius Janssen van Ceulen)
line engraving, early 18th century
NPG D28087

Bess of Hardwick

after Unknown artist
colour photogravure, published 1902 (circa 1590)
NPG D41911

Related People

George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury (husband)

Places

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Bess of Hardwick