“Elizabeth of England appears in her many portraits adorned like a sumptuous and distant idol, surrounded by the double aura of celibacy and power (Frégnac, 1967).”
This sixteenth-century queen continues to fascinate, notably through the image constructed both by herself and by her contemporaries. The attire depicted in Elizabeth’s portraits is far from arbitrary: from the sixteenth century onward, a person’s clothing and jewelry were meant to reflect both their social position and their inner self. What role did Protestantism play in this queen’s aesthetic choices? Did her image matter in the acquisition and preservation of her power?
A specialist in early modern history, Lucy Lagier (b. 2002) is the author of a Bachelor’s thesis on the role of ceremonial display in the image of royal power in the sixteenth century. She will soon begin a Master’s degree in General History at the University of Neuchâtel.