Bess of Hardwick
(circa 1527-1608), Noblewoman; wife of 6th Earl of ShrewsburyElizabeth ('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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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
after Unknown artist
colour photogravure, published 1902 (circa 1590)
NPG D41911
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