Search results

Start typing

The Royal Portrait

Image and Impact

BRITISH SCHOOL, 16TH CENTURY

Elizabeth Woodville (1437?-1492)

1513-1530

Oil on panel | 37.6 x 27.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 406785

This panel was originally round-topped and would have been in a gilded, engaged frame, which normally indicates a date of the 1470s-1480s. However, recent dendrochronological (tree-ring) dating has indicated a creation date of c.1513-30. The round-top was later altered (between 1666-7 and 1818) and the painting was transformed into a rectangular format. This was possibly in order to make the painting fit in with a set of early King and Queen portraits. The wife of Edward IV is shown half-length, resting her folded hands on a ledge in front of her. The artist is unidentified but would probably have been either British or Flemish, working at Henry VIII's court.

    The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.