If you click here you will get to the Greenwich Maritime Museum page on the famous Armada Portrait. Recently saved for the nation, this iconic portrait of Elizabeth I commemorates the most famous conflict of her reign – the failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in summer 1588. The Armada Portrait is currently off display for essential conservation work, to preserve its fragile painted surfaces which are over 400 years old. The work is expected to take until the autumn.
The Armada Portrait is an outstanding historical document, summarizing the hopes and aspirations of the state as an imperial power, at a watershed moment in history. But the Armada Portrait transcends this specific moment in time. Scholars have described it as a definitive representation of the English Renaissance, encapsulating the creativity, ideals and ambitions of the Elizabethan ‘Golden Age’.
Why not go an visit when it is back on display.
Mr Kydd.
