Elizabeth R

This is a little gem of a hardback book written by Roy Strong and Julia Trevelyan Oman, first published in 1971 by Secker and Warburg.  It details the sumptuous portraits of Elizabeth I with attention to detail through colour illustrations and contemporary accounts of the Queen and her extensive wardrobe. As a child I was often taken to Hatfield House where we saw not only the famous Hilliard 'Ermine' portrait and the fanciful Rainbow portrait, embroidered with all the eyes and ears of her kingdom, but also her silk  lace stockings and gardening hat displayed in a glass case. A few years ago I gave a talk on the clothes detailed in her portraits and loved researching all the details.This book reveals 'the riot of embroidery' seen in portraits and items from an old inventory are recorded in great detail:
Item, one cloak...embroidered like stubs of dead trees, set with fourteen buttons embroidered like butterflies, with fewer pearls and one emerald in a piece, lined with cloth of silver, printed.(Modern spelling)
It's time I strolled back into the National Portrait Gallery one dark rainy afternoon and revisited the portraits collected there as I often did years ago when passing by.