Queen Elizabeth I Inspired a lot of Ugly Portraits
Daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I is arguably one of the most famous and influential monarchs this world has ever seen. Such power and influence inspired many artists to capture her spirit in a portrait. But some of them did not capture her in the best light… this portrait above does not have an artist attributed to it. But it’s obvious that not only did Elizabeth I see better days than in this painting – the painting itself has seen better days. Some of the paint is missing, which contributes to the morbid discoloration you see on her. While we may not know if this is an accurate representation of Elizabeth I, it is interesting to dive into what she may have looked like towards the end of her life. Even though her power and fame are near-immortal status, she still was a human at the end of the day.
By the end, Elizabeth was in pretty rough shape. The 69-year-old queen, who had reigned for 45 years, was weak and aged. Her teeth were rotten. The white makeup, which Royal Museums Greenwich maintains was an inch thick on her face, according to some accounts, may have contained enough lead to poison her. It seems she may have worn this due to contracting smallpox around 1562. Smallpox was known to significantly scar its victims. This paints a picture actually fairly similar to what we see in the anonymous portrait above.