THE FACE OF QUEENSHIP
QUEENSHIP AND POWER Series Editors: Carole Levin and Charles Beem This series brings together monographs and edited volumes from scholars specializing in gender analysis, women s studies, literary interpretation, and cultural, political, constitutional, and diplomatic history. It aims to broaden our understanding of the strategies that queens both consorts and regnants, as well as female regents pursued in order to wield political power within the structures of male- dominant societies. In addition to works describing European queenship, it also includes books on queenship as it appeared in other parts of the world, such as East Asia, Sub- Saharan Africa, and Islamic civilization. Editorial Board Linda Darling, University of Arizona (Ottoman Empire) Theresa Earenfight, Seattle University (Spain) Dorothy Ko, Barnard College (China) Nancy Kollman, Stanford University (Russia) John Thornton, Boston University (Africa and the Atlantic World) John Watkins (France and Italy) Published by Palgrave Macmillan The Lioness Roared: The Problems of Female Rule in English History By Charles Beem Elizabeth of York By Arlene Naylor Okerlund Learned Queen: The Image of Elizabeth I in Politics and Poetry By Linda Shenk The Face of Queenship: Early Modern Representations of Elizabeth I By Anna Riehl Tudor Queenship: The Reigns of Mary and Elizabeth (forthcoming) By Anna Whitelock and Alice Hunt Renaissance Queens of France (forthcoming) By Glenn Richardson
THE FACE OF QUEENSHIP EARLY MODERN REPRESENTATIONS OF ELIZABETH I Anna Riehl
THE FACE OF QUEENSHIP Copyright Anna Riehl, 2010. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-61495-6 All rights reserved. First published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-37865-4 ISBN 978-0-230-10674-1 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230106741 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Riehl, Anna, 1970 The face of queenship : early modern representations of Elizabeth I / Anna Riehl. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-37865-4 (alk. paper) 1. Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533 1603 Public opinion. 2. Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533 1603 In literature. 3. Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533 1603 In art. 4. Facial expression Social aspects. 5. Facial expression Political aspects. 6. Great Britain History Elizabeth, 1558 1603. 7. Monarchy Great Britain Public opinion. 8. Queens Great Britain Public opinion. I. Title. DA356.R54 2010 942.05 5092 dc22 2009039973 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: May 2010 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my mother and children
... her face and countenance every day We changèd see, and sundry forms partake... Edmund Spenser, Two Cantos of Mutabilitie, Canto VII, 50. 6 7
CONTENTS List of Illustrations Note on the Text Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations ix xi xiii xvii Introduction 1 1 Plain Queen, Gorgeous King: Tudor Royal Faces 13 2 Let nature paint your beauty s glory : Beauty and Cosmetics 37 3 Meeting the Queen: Documentary Accounts 65 4 Mirrors more than one : Elizabeth s Literary Faces 91 5 Portraiture: The Painted Texts of Elizabeth s Faces 123 Part I: Elizabeth and Hilliard 127 Part II: Augmenting the Canon 151 Notes 173 Bibliography 209 Index 239
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FIGURES Cover Image The Rainbow portrait of Elizabeth I, circa 1603. 1 Queen Elizabeth I in Coronation Robes, circa 1559 1600. 106 2 Royal arms of Queen Elizabeth I, from Robert Cooke, Armorial bearings of the kings and noble families of Great Britain from the reign of William the Conqueror to that of James I, 1572. 107 3 Nicholas Hilliard. Chart from Treatise Concerning the Arte of Limning. 130 4 Nicholas Hilliard. Queen Elizabeth I playing the lute, circa 1576 1580. 140 5 Nicholas Hilliard. Queen Elizabeth I. 1572. 141 6 Anonymous. Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, circa 1575 1580. 146 7 Nicholas Hilliard. Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, 1588. 149 8 Elizabeth I, The Hampden Portrait, circa 1563. 153 9 Anonymous, Elizabeth I, circa 1564 1567. 155 10 Portrait of Elizabeth I, circa 1575 1580. 159 11 Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, circa 1560. 161 12 Marcus Gheeraerts, the Younger. Queen Elizabeth I ( The Ditchley Portrait ), circa 1592. 164 13 Workshop of Marcus Gheeraerts, the Younger. Queen Elizabeth I, circa 1592. 165 14 Marcus Gheeraerts. Portrait of Elizabeth I, circa 1592. 166 15 Elizabethan three-pence coin, 1575. 167
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NOTE ON THE TEXT In the quotations from the primary unedited sources, the original spelling is preserved except for the silent changes, where appropriate, from u to v and vice versa, and from i to j.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A substantial part of research for and writing of this book was made possible by the Dissertation Award from the American Association of University Women; the University Fellowship and Provost Award from the University of Illinois at Chicago; the English-Speaking Union Scholarship for research in England, and Summer Research Grant from the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University. The research process repeatedly took me out of my office on the journeys around the United States and England, and I am grateful to the staff at the reading rooms of the Newberry Library, Folger Shakespeare Library, British Library, and Heinz Archive of the National Portrait Gallery in London, and to the audiences of my conference presentations. I thank Karen Hearn at the Tate Britain and Tarnya Cooper at the National Portrait Gallery in London for conferring with me about my research. I am grateful to Rab MacGibbon for his expert help in locating some of the obscure portraits of Elizabeth. This book would not be what it is without the assistance of many scholars, and I feel very fortunate to be a recipient of their enthusiastic support and expertise. I am especially grateful to three of my colleagues at Auburn University who have read the entire manuscript in the final stages of revision: Craig E. Bertolet, who has been my invaluable resource for all things medieval and who also made all translations from Latin quoted in this book; Hilary Wyss, whose comments made me see the structure of this project in a new light; and Paula Backscheider, whose good judgment facilitated the finishing touches on this book and whose generosity enabled me to include twice as many illustrations than my budget would otherwise allow.
xiv Acknowledgments I am also indebted to Thomas Herron, Hannibal Hamlin, Margaret Hannay, Patricia Phillippy, Ilona Bell, Jane Donaweth, Mary Villeponteaux, Constance Relihan, and Wiebke Kuhn, for reading parts of the book and providing invaluable comments that sharpened my focus and saved me from many errors. I am deeply thankful to Michele Osherow, Donald Stump, Lynn Botelho, Linda Shenk, and Catherine Howey, whose own work has created a stimulating intellectual environment and whose enthusiasm about my research has been unflagging over the years. For their wisdom and support, I thank the members of the English Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, particularly Clark Hulse, who introduced me to the delights of early modern visual culture and forstered my interest in the English queen during the work on my dissertation and Elizabeth I: Ruler and Legend, a public humanities exhibition at the Newberry Library in Chicago. I give my heartfelt thanks to John Huntington, whose support and guidance, as well as an invariably upbeat disposition, helped me to navigate some difficult stages of the research process. At the UIC, I also thank Mary Beth Rose, Mark Canuel, Lisa Freeman, and Judith Gardiner. Further thanks go out to remarkable people of an extraordinary intellectual generosity, Sander L. Gilman and John Watkins. At Auburn University, I give special thanks to my bright research assistants Rachel Reed and Mary Mechler and to my colleagues, especially Nancy Noe, Joanne Tong, Matt Zarnowiecki, and Jeremy Downes. I am also grateful to the individuals at Palgrave Macmillan who worked on my book, especially Chris Chappell, general editor; Carole Levin and Charles Beem, series editors and inspiring scholars; and Samantha Hasey, editorial assistant. I am additionally indebted to Carole Levin, who discerned the seeds of a future book within my initial essay and supported its growth with her outstanding expertise, enthusiasm, and wisdom. My further gratitude goes out to Craig E. Bertolet whose knowledge, wit, and devotion helped me to steer this book through to its completion. I give my heartfelt thanks to the far-away-so-close friends who regularly lent me their emotional and moral support as my thinking and writing moved forward by leaps and bounds: Ann Cheetham, Andrea Brillhart, Lydia Barnett Gastley, Kris Curtis, John Divine, Cristin McConnaughay, Lia Brouwers, Judith
Acknowledgments xv Bieberle Marks, and Anna Klatis. My great thanks go to Michael for his steady support on a long journey and his patient belief that often superseded my own self-confidence. This book is dedicated to my mother Yana, an extraordinary woman whose wisdom and love are at heart of all achievements of my life; to April and Alexander, who put my scholarly challenges in perspective and thus inspired me to persevere; and to the memory of Rachel.
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ABBREVIATIONS CSP Foreign CSP Spain CSP Venice CSP Domestic CW DNB FQ Letters and Papers NPG ODNB OED Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, from the Reign of Elizabeth I Calendar of the Letters and State Papers Relating to English Affairs Preserved in, or originally Belonging to, the Archives of Simancas Calendar of State Papers and manuscripts relating to English affairs, existing in the archives and collections of Venice, and in other libraries of Northern Italy Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Elizabeth I: Collected Works Dictionary of National Biography The Faerie Queene The Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII. Preserved in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and Elsewhere in England National Portrait Gallery, London Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford English Dictionary