George Gower (c.1540–1596) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

portrait painter who became

Serjeant Painter The Serjeant Painter was an honourable and lucrative position as court painter with the English monarch. It carried with it the prerogative of painting and gilding all of the King's residences, coaches, banners, etc. and it grossed over £1,000 ...

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

in 1581.

Biography

Very little is known about his early life except that he was a grandson of Sir John Gower of Stittenham,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

. Hearn, Karen, ed. ''Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630'', p. 107 His earliest documented works are the two 1573 companion portraits of Sir Thomas Kytson and his wife Lady Kytson, now in the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

in London. Gower painted a

self-portrait A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century tha ...

in 1579 (right) that shows his

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

and his artist's tools of his trade. An

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

device shows a

balance Balance or balancing may refer to: Common meanings * Balance (ability) in biomechanics * Balance (accounting) * Balance or weighing scale * Balance as in equality or equilibrium Arts and entertainment Film * ''Balance'' (1983 film), a Bulgarian ...

with an artist's

dividers A caliper (British spelling also calliper, or in plurale tantum sense a pair of calipers) is a device used to measure the dimensions of an object. Many types of calipers permit reading out a measurement on a ruled scale, a dial, or a digital dis ...

outweighing the family coat of arms, "a startling claim in England where a painter was still viewed as little more than an artisan." Gower is also famous for painting the Plimpton "Sieve" Portrait of Queen Elizabeth in 1579, now at the

Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare material ...

. The sieve that Elizabeth carries signifies the Roman

vestal virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...

Tuccia, who carried water in a sieve to prove her chastity, thus representing Elizabeth's status as a virgin queen. The globe over her right shoulder symbolizes her position as the leader of global empire. Gower was appointed to the position of

to Queen Elizabeth in 1581. This allowed him to paint most of England’s aristocracy. The post also made him responsible for painted decoration at the royal residences, and on coaches and furniture. Among his works were a fountain (now destroyed) and the astronomical clock, both at

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

. He also inspected portraits of the Queen by other artists prior to their official release. The version of the '' Armada Portrait'' of Elizabeth now at

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, a ...

, painted to commemorate the 1588 defeat of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

, was formerly attributed to Gower, as was a cut down version in the

National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom) The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

. All three extant versions are now thought to be the work of different unknown English artists.Hearn, p. 43; Strong 1969; Cooper and Bolland 2014, pp. 151-154 Gower died in London.

Gallery

File:George Gower Elizabeth Sieve Portrait.jpg, File:George Gower - Sir Thomas Kytson - Google Art Project.jpg, File:George Gower - Lady Kytson - Google Art Project.jpg, File:Lettice Knollys1.jpg, File:Elizabeth Knollys.jpg, File:Richard Drake George Gower 1577.jpg, File:Mary Cornwallis George Gower.jpg, File:Sir Charles Somerset (1584).jpg,

Notes

References

*Cooper, Tarnya and Charlotte Bolland: ''The Real Tudors : kings and queens rediscovered., London: National Portrait Gallery (Cooper and Bolland 2014)
Biography of George Gower
The National Maritime Museum Art Gallery. Accessed October 2007
Gower, George
at the Union List of Artists Names, The J. Paul Getty Trust. Accessed October 2007
Portraits by Gower
at the Tate Britain Gallery in London. Accessed October 2007 *Hearn, Karen, ed. ''Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630.'' New York: Rizzoli, 1995. . * Strong, Roy: ''The English Icon: Elizabethan and Jacobean Portraiture'', 1969, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London (Strong 1969) *Strong, Roy: ''Gloriana: The Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I'', Thames and Hudson, 1987, (Strong 1987)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gower, George 1540s births 1596 deaths Leveson-Gower family 16th-century English painters English male painters English portrait painters Portrait miniaturists Court painters

Biography

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links