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The tomb of Mary Queen of Scots is widely recognized as one of the most important visual symbols of dynastic power that can still be viewed in Britain today. Although art historians had originally regarded the strongly Catholic depiction of Mary in captivity, the so-called Sheffield portrait, as the model for the effigy, for more than a century the consensus is that it was based on one of Nicholas Hilliard's miniature portraits. In this essay a study of the images as well as related documents in the exchequer and Hardwick Hall accounts reestablishes that the Sheffield type was indeed the specific model for the tomb. This does more than simply settle a long-standing question. It also opens the way for an exploration of the content of this most popular portrait of Mary, which was fraught with significance not only for King James VI, Mary's son, but also the crypto-Catholic nobleman Henry Howard, first earl of Northampton, who was in charge of the tomb's completion.Keywords: Mary Queen of Scots, Portraits and Monument, Nicholas Hilliard, Henry Howard, first earl of Northampton, James VI From the mid-nineteenth century up until the early-twentieth the full-length portrait of Mary Queen of Scots that remains to this day in the Hardwick Hall collection was generally viewed not only as a rare ad vivam representation of the Scottish queen in captivityspecifically in the year 1578, as inscribed in the painting-but also as the seminal basis for a whole series of subsequent likenesses of Mary known as 'Sheffield types', including, most conspicuously, the effigy of her tomb at Westminster Abbey ( Fig. 1-2). 1 As both the Sheffield and Westminster images are packed with dynastic as well as religious symbolism, it is fitting that they might visually represent the beginning and end, as it were, of Mary's time in England. 2 But after it was 1 Sir George Scharf, 'Observations on the Principal Portraits of Mary I, Queen of England and Mary, Queen of Scots', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 2 nd ser., 7 (1876): 49-66 at 66. 2 As to the reasonable question of whether one (or several) model portrait(s) was used at all as a source for the tomb, most commentators have simply assumed a single picture was involved, given the visual congruity of the images they compared. It is possible, however, to
The tomb of Mary Queen of Scots is widely recognized as one of the most important visual symbols of dynastic power that can still be viewed in Britain today. Although art historians had originally regarded the strongly Catholic depiction of Mary in captivity, the so-called Sheffield portrait, as the model for the effigy, for more than a century the consensus is that it was based on one of Nicholas Hilliard's miniature portraits. In this essay a study of the images as well as related documents in the exchequer and Hardwick Hall accounts reestablishes that the Sheffield type was indeed the specific model for the tomb. This does more than simply settle a long-standing question. It also opens the way for an exploration of the content of this most popular portrait of Mary, which was fraught with significance not only for King James VI, Mary's son, but also the crypto-Catholic nobleman Henry Howard, first earl of Northampton, who was in charge of the tomb's completion.Keywords: Mary Queen of Scots, Portraits and Monument, Nicholas Hilliard, Henry Howard, first earl of Northampton, James VI From the mid-nineteenth century up until the early-twentieth the full-length portrait of Mary Queen of Scots that remains to this day in the Hardwick Hall collection was generally viewed not only as a rare ad vivam representation of the Scottish queen in captivityspecifically in the year 1578, as inscribed in the painting-but also as the seminal basis for a whole series of subsequent likenesses of Mary known as 'Sheffield types', including, most conspicuously, the effigy of her tomb at Westminster Abbey ( Fig. 1-2). 1 As both the Sheffield and Westminster images are packed with dynastic as well as religious symbolism, it is fitting that they might visually represent the beginning and end, as it were, of Mary's time in England. 2 But after it was 1 Sir George Scharf, 'Observations on the Principal Portraits of Mary I, Queen of England and Mary, Queen of Scots', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 2 nd ser., 7 (1876): 49-66 at 66. 2 As to the reasonable question of whether one (or several) model portrait(s) was used at all as a source for the tomb, most commentators have simply assumed a single picture was involved, given the visual congruity of the images they compared. It is possible, however, to
John Studley’s Agamemnon (1566) explores women’s rule and how it can combine feminine and masculine elements to achieve and maintain political power. To do so, Studley employs the character of Clytemnestra, who simultaneously retains elements of her previous dramatic versions and is shaped to resonate with early modern English audiences. This process is twofold, taking into consideration linguistic and character traits. Clytemnestra’s language is expanded from the Latin through masculine-coded tropes characteristic of vernacular lyric. Moreover, she possesses traits traditionally considered masculine (martial courage, determination, bold speech and skill in weaponry). In Studley’s Clytemnestra, then, endurance and action combined create a gender hybridity in speech and behaviour. In turn, her portrayal resonates with discourses surrounding early modern women rulers, from Elizabeth Tudor to Mary Stuart. Ultimately, Agamemnon reshapes the treacherous queen of Mycenae to function as a commentary on how a woman in power could appear, speak and behave.
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