Queen Elizabeth I







© National Portrait Gallery, London
- Buy a print
- Use this image
- Share this
Queen Elizabeth I
by Unknown artist
electrotype of a so-called pattern for a sovereign, 19th century, based on a work from the late 16th century
1 in. x 1/2 in. (25 mm x 13 mm)
Given by Sir George Scharf, 1877
Primary Collection
NPG 446
Sitterback to top
- Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), Reigned 1558-1603. Sitter associated with 135 portraits.
Related worksback to top
- NPG D13223: facsimile of signature of Queen Elizabeth I (incorporates facsimile of metal pattern in BM and a false portrait) (includes the portrait)
Linked publicationsback to top
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 200
- Strong, Roy, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, 1969, p. 108,209,248
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1570back to top
Current affairs
Pope Pius V issues a Papal 'bull' excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I from the Catholic Church. The bull provokes widespread anti-Catholicism in England.Elizabeth contemplates marriage with either Charles, Archduke of Austria or Henri, Duke of Anjou.
Art and science
Publication of The Scholemaster by the royal tutor Roger Ascham, which popularises the educational views of the English nobility.The mathematician and antiquary John Dee's preface to the first English translation of Euclid's Elements of Geometrie anticipates the experimental science of the seventeenth century.
The Italian architect Andrea Palladio published I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (The Four Books of Architecture).
International
Treaty of St Germain-en-Laye ends the Third War of Religion in France. Huguenots (French Protestants) are granted religious freedom and the Huguenot leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny becomes a dominant force at court.The Treaty of Stettin - Denmark agrees to recognise the independence of Sweden and Sweden abandons its claim to Norway.
Ivan IV (the Terrible), Tsar of Russia, oversees the Massacre of Novgorod.
Tell us more back to top
Can you tell us more about this portrait? Spotted an error, information that is missing (a sitter’s life dates, occupation or family relationships, or a date of portrait for example) or do you know anything that we don't know? If you have information to share please complete the form below.
If you require information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service. You can buy a print of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at £6 for unframed prints, £25 for framed prints. If you wish to license this image, please use our Rights and Images service.
Please note that we cannot provide valuations.
We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.
Related pages
- Searching for Shakespeare
- Tudor Miniatures
- Making History: Printed Portraiture in Tudor and Stuart Britain
- Concealed and Revealed: The Changing Faces of Elizabeth I
- On panel making and the post-1600 Holbein panels
- My Favourite Portrait by Fiona Shaw
- My Favourite Portrait by P.D. James
- Hidden: Unseen Paintings Beneath Tudor Portraits
- Queen Elizabeth I by Nicholas Hilliard
- Tudor pick up guides
- Kings and Queens: A Family tree
- NPG D48090 in 360°
- Tudor and Elizabethan matching pairs
- Who do you think you were?
- Brilliant Women
- Popular Prints of Victoria and Albert
- Nelson: before and after Trafalgar
- Gunpowder, Treason and Plot
- Chartist Portraits
- Silhouettes display, 2004-05
- William Hazlitt's Spirit of the Age
- Return to Life: A New Look at the Portrait Bust
- Restoration Lives: Samuel Pepys and His Circle
- Theodore de Mayerne
- Mary, Queen of Scots: Fact and Fiction
- Mary, Queen of Scots
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Art Conservation Project
- Rebel women
- 2019 Anniversaries
Tell us more
Join & Support
Framed & unframed prints
Choose your favourite portrait from our Collection as a framed or unframed print for your home.