Monday, January 12, 2026

Sovereigns

Hendrik Hondius the Elder
Portrait of Elizabeth I,
Queen of England, France, Ireland & Virginia

1632
posthumous engraving
Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich


Melchior Lorck
Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
1565
etching and engraving
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna

Jean Decourt
Portrait of the duc d'Anjou,
later Henri III, King of France

ca. 1570
drawing
Bibliothèque nationale de France

Jean Decourt
Portrait of the duc d'Anjou,
later Henri III, King of France

ca. 1570
oil on panel
Musée Condé, Chantilly

Guillaume Dupré
Louis XIII, King of France
1610
bronze relief medallion
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Renold Elstrack
Equestrian Portrait of Elizabeth Stuart,
future Winter Queen of Bohemia

ca. 1612-13
engraving
British Museum

Renold Elstrack
Marriage Portrait of Elizabeth Stuart,
future Winter Queen of Bohemia

ca. 1613-14
engraving
British Museum

Wolfgang Heimbach
Portrait of Christina, Queen of Sweden
ca. 1660
oil on copper
Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig

Hendrick Danckerts
Charles II, by Grace of God King
of Great Britain, France and Ireland

ca. 1660
engraving
Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich

John Bushnell
Bust Portrait of King Charles II
1678
terracotta
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Johann Franck
Woman painting King Charles II with his foot on Ireland
ca. 1680
engraving
(the inscription on the painting is in German)
Royal Collection, Windsor

Jacob Gole
Portrait of Mary II, Queen of Great Britain
ca. 1689-94
mezzotint
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Thomas Frye
Her Most Excellent Majesty Charlotte,
Queen of Great Britain

1762
mezzotint
British Museum

Anonymous Photographer
Queen Victoria
1898
signed presentation photo in original plush frame
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Constance Stuart Larrabee
King George VI in South Africa
1947
gelatin silver print
National Museum of African Art, Washington DC

Bernard Safran
Elizabeth II at age 33
1959
acrylic on panel
(commissioned by Time magazine)
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Bernard Safran
Anne Marie Oldenburg, Queen of Greece
1964
oil on panel
(commissioned by Time magazine)
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

from Cyclops

O Nicias, there is no other remedie for love,
With ointing or with sprinkling on, that ever I could prove,
Beside the Muses nine.  This pleasant medsun of the minde
Growes among men, and seems but lite, yet verie hard to finde.
As well I wote you knowe, who are in Phisicke such a leeche,
And of the Muses so belov'd.  The cause of this my speeche
A Cyclops is, who lived heere with us right welthele, 
That ancient Polyphem, when first he loved Galate;
When with a bristled beard, his chin and cheekes first clothed were.
He lov'd her not, with roses, apples, or with curled heare,
But with the Furies rage, al other thinges he little plide.
For often to their fould, from pastures green, without a guide
His sheep returned home, when all the while he singing laie
In honor of his love, and on the shore consumde awaie
From morning until night, sicke of the wound, fast by the hart,
Which mighty Venus gave, and in his liver strucke the dart.

– Theocritus (early 3rd century BC), translated by Anonymous (1588)