The Plimpton ''Sieve Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I'' is an

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

by English painter

George Gower George Gower (c.1540–1596) was an English portrait painter who became Serjeant Painter to Queen Elizabeth I in 1581. Biography Very little is known about his early life except that he was a grandson of Sir John Gower of Stittenham, North ...

dated 1579, and now in the collection of 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 ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

It is one of three near-identical portraits of Elizabeth I by Gower that represent the queen holding a symbolic

sieve A sieve, fine mesh strainer, or sift, is a device for separating wanted elements from unwanted material or for controlling the particle size distribution of a sample, using a screen such as a woven mesh or net or perforated sheet material. T ...

. It was acquired by

George Arthur Plimpton George Arthur Plimpton (July 13, 1855 – July 1, 1936) was an American publisher and philanthropist. Life and career Plimpton was born in Walpole, Massachusetts, the son of Priscilla Guild (Lewis) and Calvin Gay Plimpton. He was the son and grand ...

in 1930, hence the name. His son,

Francis T. P. Plimpton Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton (December 7, 1900 – July 30, 1983) was an American diplomat, New York City lawyer, partner at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton and a president of the New York City Bar Association. Early life Plimpton was born ...

, willed it to the Folger.

Iconographic description

Three-quarter length portrait of

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 ...

holding a sieve, with a globe in the left background and the royal

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 ...

on the right. The sieve represents her self-identification as the "Virgin Queen" by association with

Tuccia Tuccia (3rd-century BC ), was an ancient Roman Vestal Virgin. She is known for an incident in which her chastity was questioned by a spurious accusation. In Tuccia's case, she utilized a flat perforated basket to carry water, without the water fal ...

, 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 ...

who proved her virginity by carrying water in a sieve.

Inscriptions

The painting has three areas of text in yellow uppercase letters: * "TVTTO VEDO & MOLTO MANCHA" at upper left, on two lines, with the last two letters joined; Italian for "I see everything and much is lacking." * "E R" at upper right, with a gap between the letters; abbreviation for the Latin "Elizabeth Regina" meaning "Elizabeth the Queen." * "STANCHO RIPOSO & RIPOSATO AFFANO 1579" near the upper right, on three lines, with the second and third letters superimposed to form one character; a line from Petrarch's ''Trionfo D'Amore'', IV, 1.145, followed by the year the painting was executed; Italian for "Weary, I have rested, and having rested, am breathless."

Other versions

There are at least two other versions of Gower's ''Sieve Portrait''. One is known only through an 18th-century description by

George Vertue George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period. Life Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...

. The other measures 34 x 24 inches and is now in a private collection in Florida.

References

{{Authority control Cultural depictions of Elizabeth I English Renaissance Renaissance paintings English paintings

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

16th-century portraits Portraits of Elizabeth I of England Folger Shakespeare Library