REPRESENTATIVE PORTRAITS OF ELIZABETH І TUDOR “INVINCIBLE ARMADA”

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to reveal the artistic, figurative, compositional and stylistic features of the highsociety representative portraits of the English monarch of the Tudor era, Elizabeth I, of the “Armada” type, widely known during the late Renaissance – Mannerism in European painting as apotheotic works dedicated to the greatness of the reign of the Virgin Queen and her victories in the fight against the Spanish fleet. The main idea of the study is to affirm the special role in European painting of the three ceremonial portraits of the aforementioned ruler of Foggy Albion, of the “Invincible Armada” type, which are now considered by expert circles to be reference images of the “icon of the nation” and an affirmation of the idea of the inviolability of the English crown. The research methodology is based on a set of principles, approaches and methods. In particular, it is based on the chronological principle, art history, and cultural approaches; ontological, axiological, hermeneutic, comparative, prosopographic, socio-cultural, cultural-creative, content analysis method, formal-stylistic, iconographic, art historical analysis method. Among the key tasks of the research are to clarify the history of writing three versions of the ceremonial portraits “The Invincible Armada” and outline their provenance; to reveal the plot, iconographic, semiotic features of the portraits of Queen Elizabeth I in European painting of the late 16th century; to characterize the genre characteristics of the indicated works. Data are provided on the collection of funds for the purchase of the historical portrait “The Invincible Armada” from the descendants of Captain Francis Drake for over ten million pounds sterling in 2016 and its exhibition in the state collection of the Royal Greenwich Museums. The specifics of the artist’s embodiment of the idea of an invincible woman in the British monarchy are revealed, which gave impetus to the subsequent creation of a number of renowned portraits of European women in power during the Baroque, Rococo, and Classicism eras.