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)

Emperors

Roman Empire
Caligula
1st century AD (porphyry head)
17th century Italy (marble body)
Château de Versailles

Roman Empire
Claudius
AD 41
marble
Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig

Roman Empire
Claudius
(recarved from a likeness of Caligula)
1st century AD
marble
Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Cosimo Fancelli
Vitellius
1676
porphyry (head) and alabaster (body)
Hall of the Emperors,
Galleria Borghese, Rome

Tommaso Fedeli
Vespasian
1619
porphyry (head) and alabaster (body)
Hall of the Emperors,
Galleria Borghese, Rome

Ancient Greek Culture under the Roman Empire
Hadrian
AD 130
marble
(excavated in Athens)
National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Roman Empire
Hadrian as World Ruler
AD 130
sardonyx cameo
Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Ancient Greek Culture under the Roman Empire
Hadrian
AD 130-140
marble
(colossal statue fragment excavated in Athens)
National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Roman Empire
Lucius Verus
AD 150-200
marble
Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins

Roman Empire
Marcus Aurelius
AD 160-180
marble
Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins

Anonymous Italian Artist
Marcus Aurelius
ca. 1500
bronze plaquette
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Joseph Claus
Caracalla
1757
marble
(after antique original)
Saint Louis Art Museum

Roman Empire
Caracalla
AD 196-204
marble
Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins

Roman Empire
Gallienus
AD 260
marble
(excavated in North Africa)
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden

Roman Empire
Gemma Constantiniana
(Emperor and Family in Triumphal Chariot pulled by Centaurs)
AD 320-30 (sardonyx cameo)
17th century (gold mount)
formerly owned by Peter Paul Rubens
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden

Edme Bouchardon
Portrait of Baron Philipp von Stosch
as Roman Emperor
1727
marble
Bode Museum, Berlin

But Figulus more seene in heavenly mysteries,
Whose like Aegiptian Memphis never had
For skill in stars, and tune-full planeting,
In this sort spake. The worlds swift course is lawlesse
And casuall; all the starres at randome radge:
Or if Fate rule them, Rome thy Cittizens

Are neere some plague: what mischiefe shall insue?
Shall townes be swallowed? shall the thickned aire,
Become intemperate? shall the earth be barraine?
Shall water be conjeal'd and turn'd to ice?
O Gods what death prepare ye? with what plague
Mean ye to radge? the death of many men

Meetes in one period. If cold noysome Saturne

Were now exalted, and with blew beames shinde,
Then Gaynimede would renew Deucalions flood,

And in the fleeting sea the earth be drencht.
O Phœbus shouldst thou with thy rayes now sing
The fell Nemean beast, th' earth would be fired,
And heaven tormented with thy chafing heate,
But thy fiers hurt not: Mars, 'tis thou enflam'st

The threatning Scorpion with the burning taile
And fier'st his cleyes. Why art thou thus enrag'd?

Kind Jupiter hath low declin'd himselfe;
Venus is faint; swift Hermes retrograde;
Mars onely rules the heaven: why doe the Planets
Alter their course; and vainly dim their vertue?

– from the First Book of Lucan, translated by Christopher Marlowe (published 1600)