Year 1579 Artist George Gower | Medium Oil on wood Created 1579 | |
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Dimensions 104.4 cm × 76.2 cm (41.1 in × 30.0 in) Location Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. | ||
The Plimpton Sieve Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I is an oil painting by English painter George Gower dated 1579, and now in the collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. It is one of three near-identical portraits of Elizabeth I by Gower that represent the queen holding a symbolic sieve. It was acquired by George Arthur Plimpton in 1930, hence the name. His son, Francis T.P. Plimpton, willed it to the Folger.
Contents
Iconographic description
Three-quarter length portrait of Queen Elizabeth I holding a sieve, with a globe in the left background and the royal coat of arms on the right. The sieve represents her self-identification as the "Virgin Queen" by association with Tuccia, the Roman Vestal Virgin who proved her virginity by carrying water in a sieve.
Inscriptions
The painting has three areas of text in yellow uppercase letters:
Other versions
There are at least two other versions of Gower's Sieve Portrait. One is known only through an 18th-century description by George Vertue. The other measures 34 x 24 inches and is now in a private collection in Florida.