Two very different stories about Elizabeth have been in the news this week. This article from the BBC discusses the treatment of child actors in Elizabeth’s reign. It reflects research from Dr van Es who “has examined the cruel way in which …children had been seized with “violence and force”, kept as captives and threatened with whipping.
These street kidnappings were not illegal, as the theatre owners had licences to forcibly recruit children. These powers had been granted by Queen Elizabeth I and carried her royal seal.”
This is all rather shocking, but perhaps this excellent article from Jonathan Jones in the Guardian is tighter to our course as it discusses the Cult of Gloriana in the paintings of Elizabeth’s reign. As he states, “it was a fine line an artist had to walk, between flattery and fact. A portrait must please the sitter and – in the case of royalty – promote a public image without obviously being fantastical. In Elizabeth’s portraits it is actually her clothes, jewels and hairstyles that create glamour. Holbein himself perfected this trick.” However, Jones continues that “in the new, unvarnished portrait of Elizabeth I, wrinkles-and-all, the artist has stepped over a fine line. All the accoutrements of her glamour are there, but the painter has gone just that bit nearer to the reality behind the myth than was required to give a portrait plausibility. The result is a cruel unmasking of power. Could this have been a deliberately subversive image, hidden away in the house of some rebellious lord? Here is the fairy queen, her spell broken.”
Have a look at the images yourself and see what you think.
Mr Kydd.
