English School, 18th Century

Dr. William Broadbent (1835-1907), Physician in Ordinary to Queen Victoria, Grange Court, Essex;
Anonymous Sale, Phillip's, London, 26 April 1994, lot 1;
Anonymous Sale, Sotheby's, London, 13 November 1996, lot 16, for £24,000;
Private Collection.

The picture is fresher in colour and lighter in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The picture is paitned in a flat stable two piece panel reinforced down the panel join with butterfly supports on the reverse. The paint surface is in very good overall condition with no apparent damage or loss of paint except for some very minor abrasion to the panel edges. There is also a yellow varnish overall. Examination under ultraviolet confirms the presence of the varnish which hinders full inspection. There is however evidence of several campaigns of old minor retouching mainly in the background but also around the central jewel. There is also some minor faint old retouching to the face and to the panel joins. Offered in a black and gold painted frame in good overall condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Paint analaysis dates this picture to the 18th Century, and indicates that it is a later version of a rare early portrait of the Queen, the prototype for which ia generally dated to circa 1560-1565¹. Sometimes referred to as the Clopton type after a picture which was formerly at Clopton Hall, Suffolk (now on loan to the National Gallery, Washington), two further contemporary versions are know, one a small head in the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the other a version of similar dimensions to this picture which is currently on the London art market.  It presents a somewhat austere image of the queen, perhaps as yet unsure of her position, and is in marked contrast to the more flamboyant icons which were produced later in her reign. Perhaps the only concession to her exalted status is the magnificent jewellery, a foretaste of the elaborate later portraits. The stone in her pendant is framed with two figures, designed in the style of the Ecole de Fontainebleu and it is possibly the pendant which once belonged to Elizabeth’s sister Mary, having passed to her from her husband, Philip II of Spain. As with other very early portraits she is depicted with a small book, and John King has pointed out that she is thus portrayed as the ruler who established Edward VI’s Protestant religion and who was committed to the dissermination of the Scripture in the vernacular².

1. see Roy Strong, Gloriana, The Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, 1987, pl. 44.
2. J. King, Tudor Royal Iconography,  1989, pp. 107-110.