Queen Elizabeth in Parliament
published 1608
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 30.8 × 19.5 cm (12 1/8 × 7 11/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1951.11.102
Art Historical Context
**Queen Elizabeth in Parliament** is a striking 1608 engraving by Renold Elack, a leading English printmaker of the early 17th known for his detailed portraits of royalty and nobility. Measuring 30.8 × 19.5 cm, this print from the National Gallery of Art Rosenwald Collection captures the iconic Tudor monarch in a formal parliamentary setting, likely evoking her historic addresses to Parliament during her 45-year reign (15581603). Published five years after her death, served as a posthumous tribute, preserving her for a growing audience in an era when visual propaganda reinforced monarchical au...
About the Artist
Renold Elstrack
Renold Elstracke (c. 1570–after 1625), one of England's earliest native-born engravers, emerged as a pivotal figure in the late Elizabethan and Jacobean art world. Born to Josephe Elstrage, a migrant from "Lukeland" in the province of Liège (modern-day Belgium) who settled in England in 1551, Elstracke likely honed his craft under the tutelage of Crispin van de Passe the elder in Cologne before ar...