A month-long programme of exhibitions, events, and auctions honouring Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee will include a display of portraits of monarchs who have ruled the United Kingdom.
According to a press release issued by Sotheby’s auction house on Wednesday, the London exhibition of portraits loaned from country houses across the United Kingdom will present the likenesses of seven queens, ranging from the larger-than-life Tudors, the dynasty that first brought the art of the image to the fore, to present-day royalty.
The classic Armada image of Queen Elizabeth I, which commemorates the disastrous invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588, will be on display alongside Andy Warhol’s 1985 “Reigning Queens” portrait, which is on loan from the Woburn Abbey collection. The image by Warhol is a vibrantly coloured reimagining of the Queen’s official photographic portrait taken during her Silver Jubilee year.
From May 28 to June 15, the exhibition will feature pictures of Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Victoria, Queen Anne, Mary I, and Mary II borrowed from aristocratic and other British collections, according to Sotheby’s.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee festivities in June signify a watershed point in British history, commemorating her 70 years on the throne.
Sotheby’s will commemorate the occasion with specially curated exhibitions of rare, aristocratic jewels and tiaras, as well as books and manuscripts with royal origin, in addition to the presentation of royal portraits.
