Symbolism in Portraits

The 'Armada Portrait' is one of the most famous of Queen Elizabeth I. This portrait is full of symbolism. This portrait as painted after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, a fleet of ships that sailed from Spain with the intention to invade England. They didn't end up attacking due to the ships being blown off course. Elizabeth had lead her army down to the coast, a major iconic moment in history.

We can see Elizabeth here with her hand on a globe, showing how important she is and the influence that she had over the world. Andrew and Catherine Belsey stated that "her fingers covering the Americas, indicating England's dominion of the seas and plans for imperialist expansion in the New World".

We can see the crown in the back round, this is a symbol for the English throne and the power of the monarchy. There is also a lot of the typical symbolism at the time, including the pearls that Elizabeth is wearing, representing purity and wealth.

We can also see a mermaid in the portrait. The typical view of mermaids at the time were that they would often lure sailors to their deaths when found as they were so beautiful. This could be seen as symbolizing Elizabeth due to the fact that the Armada never managed to make it to invade England. 

Andrew Belsey and Catherine Belsey, 1990. "Icons of Divinity: Portraits of Elizabeth I" in Gent and Llewellyen, Renaissance Bodies. London: Reiktion.

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