Elizabeth I in her sixties

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Wrinkles: Painted by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, the work portrays Elizabeth I in her sixties, with no attempt to hide the ravages of time

Recently the Duchess of Cambridge’s first official portrait courted controversy but
a painting of the Tudor monarch was also recently displayed. The work portrays Elizabeth I in her sixties in resplendent regal glory but with no attempt to hide the ravages of time. It was painted in the late sixteenth century by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger who was a renowned artist of the Tudor court.
In an early example of royal public relations, a proclamation had been issued to control how Elizabeth was seen by her public. It said ‘unseemly portraits which were to her great offence’ were to be defaced and only those approved by the Queen’s Sergeant Painter were to be produced.
The painting – on show at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC – was described as unique by Thomas Herron, co-curator of the Elizabethan Gardens in North Carolina which owns the work.

While many artists of the time chose to make Elizabeth look young, visitors to the court said she had a grace and elegance in age that actually suited her.

The Duchess of Cambridge’s portrait unveiled last month by artist Paul Emsley was branded ‘ghastly’ and ‘lifeless’ by some critics.

Controlling her public image: It was proclaimed that any 'unseemly portraits which were to her great offence' were to be defaced and only those approved by the Queen's Sergeant Painter were to be produced