Philip II, King of Spain
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Philip II, King of Spain
by Unknown artist
oil on canvas, circa 1580
72 1/2 in. x 41 in. (1842 mm x 1041 mm)
Purchased, 1872
Primary Collection
NPG 347
Sitterback to top
- Philip II, King of Spain (1527-1598), Husband of Mary I. Sitter associated with 27 portraits.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Smartify image discovery app
- Bolland, Charlotte, The Tudors Passion, Power and Politics, 2022, p. 112
- Clare Gittings, The National Portrait Gallery Book of Elizabeth I, 2006, p. 10
- Gittings, Clare, The National Portrait Gallery Book of The Tudors, 2006, p. 18
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 491
- Strong, Roy, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, 1969, p. 248
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1580back to top
Current affairs
Sir Francis Drake completes his three-year circumnavigation of the globe and returns to England in triumph.Spanish and Italian soldiers land in Ireland to assist the Irish Catholic rebellion against English Protestant rule. Surrendering after the siege of Smerwick, the entire force is massacred under orders from the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Baron Grey of Wilton.
England signs an advantageous trade treaty with the Ottoman Empire.
Art and science
The French scholar and nobleman Michel de Montaigne publishes Essais (Essays), an influential development of the essay as a literary form.Robert Smythson is employed by Sir Francis Willoughby as architect of Wollaton Hall, Nottingham, completed in 1588. It is one of the masterpieces of Elizabethan architecture.
International
Philip II of Spain invades Portugal and is proclaimed King. His conquest unites the vast colonial empires of Spain and Portugal.The heir to the French crown, François, Duke of Anjou is invited become the sovereign of the Netherlands by William of Orange, leader of the Dutch rebellion against Phillip II of Spain.
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