Elizabeth the First portrait fetches 2.6 million pounds
Published November 23rd, 2007
The earliest known full-length portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, was sold on Thursday for 2.6 million pounds.
The life-sized painting by Antwerp artist Steven van der Meulen, who went on to become an important English court painter in the 1560s, had been expected to fetch between 700,000 and one million pounds, auctioneer Sotheby’s said.
“Like her father, Henry VIII, she was incredibly conscious of how important her image was,” said Emmeline Hallmark, head of the Sotheby’s British paintings department.
“This painting is so pretty and decorative, and the symbolism alludes to the fact that she is in the ripeness of her life,” she told Reuters, adding that the portrait was probably made when Elizabeth was around 30 years old.
The painting, nearly two metres tall, depicts the pale-skinned queen standing in a crimson satin dress adorned with pearls and coloured gems.
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