George Gower, Elizabeth I, About 1570. Oil paint on panel; 20 1/4 × 16 1/2 in. (51.4 × 41.9 cm). Gift of the Berger Collection Educational Trust, 2021.21

image height: 20 1/4 in, 51.4350 cm; image width: 16 1/2 in, 41.9100 cm; frame height: 36 1/2 in, 92.71 cm; frame width: 31 3/4 in, 80.645 cm; frame depth: 5 in, 12.7000 cm

European and American Art Before 1900

European Painting and Sculpture before 1900

This object is currently on view

Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was the daughter of Henry VIII by his second wife, Anne Boleyn. She was crowned queen in 1558 upon the death of her half-sister, Mary, and reigned nearly forty-five years. This is one of the first likenesses of Elizabeth to portray her as she actually looked. It was painted when the queen was thirty-seven and had just been excommunicated by the Pope. Her sober black velvet dress, so unlike the lavish gowns she wears in portraits of the later 1570s and 1580s, seems to match her austere demeanor. George Gower was named Serjeant Painter to the queen in 1581.

Probably part of the collection formed by John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick (1769–1859); by descent; Northwick Park sale, Christie’s, London, June 25, 1965, lot 4 (as by Hans Eworth); private collection; sale, Sotheby’s, London, April 3, 1996, lot 17 (as attributed to Steven van der Meulen); from which acquired by William M. B. and Bernadette Berger, Denver; Berger Collection Educational Trust; gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2021. Provenance research is on-going at the Denver Art Museum and we will post information as it becomes available. Please e-mail provenance@denverartmuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.

• “Treasures from the Berger Collection: British Paintings 1400-2000” — Denver Art Museum, 10/2/2014 – 9/9/2018