Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort to King Edward IV (c.1437-1492)
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1590 - 1605
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
432 x 318 mm (17 x 12 1/2 in)
Order this imageCollection
Dunham Massey, Cheshire
NT 932347
Caption
The sitter was the eldest daughter, and one of thirteen children, of Sir Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers. Her first husband, was Sir John Grey, son and heir of Lady Ferrers of Groby, who was killed at the second battle of St Albans on 17 February 1461). In 1464, she married privately Edward IV, at Grafton Regis on 1 May 1464. That same year, she personally petitioned the king for her husband’s forfeited lands. She was crowned Queen in Westminster Abbey on 26 May 1465. After Edward’s flight to Holland in 1470 she went into sanctuary at Westminster. She again took sanctuary there from Richard Duke of Gloucester (Richard III) (1452-1485) and Henry, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1455(?)-1483) after Edward IV’s death in 1483. In 1486, she was placed by Henry VII in full possession of her rights as Queen Dowager.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort to King Edward IV (c.1437-1492), British (English) School, inscribed top left: ELIZABETH . REGINA . REGIS / EDWARDI . ANGELIE, 1590-1605. A half-length portrait of a woman, turned slightly to the left, gazing to the left, wearing a drark dress, with elaborate embroidered collar and cuffs, wearing an embroidered hennin of red and gold embroidery with a wired gauze wimple. Jewelled necklace and rings on her fingers. Her hands rest on a ledge at the bottom of the paintingl.Previously married to Sir John Grey, 7th Lord Ferrers of Groby.
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist previously catalogued as attributed to Rogier van der Weyden (Tournai c.1399 – Brussels 1464), artist