Further understandable confusion had arisen over the identity of the remaining two portraits, since both sitters were identically named Elizabeth. Given that Elizabeth Howard, Lady Southwell, was the Countess of Nottingham’s eldest daughter, based on her more mature features, we have been able to identify her as no.8. Therefore it must be her daughter, Elizabeth Southwell, who is depicted in the white dress of a maid-of-honour, from circa 1599, (fig.1). One interesting question remains; why was there not a portrait of the Countess’s third and youngest daughter Margaret Howard in the group? Sadly, it is recorded that she was troubled by mental illness, which ultimately resulted in her confinement, and probably accounts for her absence. In her public life Elizabeth I was surrounded by a world of men, but in private she was constantly attended by her ladies of the bedchamber and the maids-of-honour who clothed her, bathed her and watched her while she ate. Amongst this close inner circle it was her female relations who had the greatest access to the Queen. It was these cousins, ladies-in-waiting and gentlewomen of the chamber who tended her and helped Elizabeth to carefully cultivate her image as Gloriana, the Virgin Queen, in the glittering world of her court. Catherine Carey was Elizabeth’s first cousin, for she was the grand-daughter of Mary Boleyn, the elder sister of the fated Anne Boleyn, and mistress to Henry VIII even before Anne. Catherine was regarded by Elizabeth as more than just a cousin, or first lady-in-waiting, as she also fulfilled the role of a trusted confidante, and was held in Elizabeth’s affection like a sister. Thus it was natural that her daughters would also be included in this elite inner circle of women who surrounded the Queen. The Howards were consummate courtiers; beautiful, well-born, and highly educated - they were versed in courtly manners, humanist ideals and renaissance allegory. Their portraits can be placed within the context of Elizabeth’s court, where in the years following the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, an intricate iconography for the Queen was woven from various threads combining mythological and chivalric symbolism, creating a tapestry of immense complexity
Cat. no. 9 English School, Frances Howard c.1600
fig.1 English School, Elizabeth Southwell, c.1600, © Christie’s, London 31