Three-day conference exploring Queen Elizabeth I and the consequences of the Spanish Armada
In September 2016, Royal Museums Greenwich acquired the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I. This remarkable work of art has captured widespread attention from its creation until the present day, providing a defining image of what has come to be seen as a critical moment in history: the failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in the summer of 1588.
This conference will address this moment in time and its consequences both for Elizabeth and her subjects in the immediate aftermath of the Armada and for subsequent generations, as the idea of the Virgin Queen and her great triumph has been shaped and remade throughout history until the present day. It seeks to advance our understanding of the Armada Portrait specifically and Elizabeth I more generally, interrogating popular notions associated with her life and reputation, offering fresh and alternative perspectives.
More Information: HERE
The iconic Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I was returned to the Queen’s House at Greenwich after extensive conservation treatment. The portrait is one of the earliest examples of a large-scale work in oils by any English painter, with a connection to the two most important native-born artists of the age, George Gower and Nicholas Hilliard.
Some 425 years after it was painted in the early 1590s – and as the result of a major public appeal that raised £10.3 million, including £7.3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) – the Armada Portrait finally entered public ownership in 2016, in the care of Royal Museums Greenwich. The HLF grant followed on from the public appeal mounted in association with Art Fund, which attracted 8,000 individual donations amounting to £1.5 million, as well as other major grants.
After brief initial display in the Queen’s House in 2016, the painting underwent six months of complex and comprehensive conservation. This painstaking work was expertly undertaken by Elizabeth Hamilton-Eddy, who is Senior Paintings Conservator at Royal Museums Greenwich, with over 40 years’ experience in the field including on panel works of this kind. The portrait went back on display in the House on 13 October 2017.