Queen Elizabeth and Essex [An Incident in the Life of Queen Elizabeth], by David Wilkie Wynfield (1837-1887). 1875. Oil on canvas. 40 x 40 inches (101.5 x 101.5 cm). Collection of Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton, accession no. OP124. Photo credit: Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage. Image reproduced from Art UK for the purpose of non-commercial research. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Wynfield exhibited this at the Royal Academy in 1875, no. 389, under the title Queen Elizabeth and Essex. For a period of time the original title was lost and it became known as An Incident in the Life of Queen Elizabeth. In the painting Essex is seen kneeling in front of the aging Queen and holding her left hand while he pleads his case. Elizabeth's maid is preparing to place a red wig over the Queen's grey hair while two other ladies-in-waiting bring the Queen more suitable attire to put on. The scene is set within the Queen's bedchamber in Nonsuch Palace.
Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex, was the stepson of Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, and the former favourite courtier of Queen Elizabeth. When Dudley died suddenly following the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Essex became a favourite of the Queen. In 1587 she appointed him Master of the Horse. Essex was not only arrogant but also exceptionally ambitious and wanted to take on the Earl of Leicester's previous roles in internal and international affairs. He proved unsuccessful, however, in his foreign expeditions on behalf of the crown. In 1598 Essex was sent to Ireland as Lieutenant and Governor General with an army of 17,000 men to quell a rebellion led by Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, and to bring Ireland under control. Instead of defeating the rebels Essex reached a truce with Tyrone on September 7, which did not please her majesty. Despite his orders to remain in Ireland Essex left to travel to Nonsuch Palace in Surrey to meet with the Queen in order to explain his decision. He was accompanied by the Earl of Southampton, the Earl of Rutland, Sir John Harington, and other members of his army. At this point the group appear to have been considering a coup to overthrow Elizabeth, but this plan seems to have been abandoned by the time they reached London. In the end only six men accompanied Essex to Nonsuch. At 10 am Essex walked unannounced through the Presence Chamber and Privy Chamber and burst into the Queen's bedchamber. At this early hour the Queen had not been able to make her usual preparations and was in a state of undress without the usual makeup and wig she used to preserve a more youthful appearance. Elizabeth was furious with Essex and placed him under house arrest for his disobedience and dereliction of duty. He was subsequently removed from most of his positions and banished from court. In 1601 Essex and his supporters amongst disaffected nobles and soldiers planned a coup to remove the Queen and proclaim James VI of Scotland her successor. On February 8, 1601 Essex and his supporters marched to London where the rebellion was easily put down within the day when the support they had hoped for from Londoners did not materialize. Elizabeth was shocked by his Essex's betrayal. He and some of his co-conspirators were executed for treason on February 25, 1601 at the Tower of London.
A critic for The Art Journal felt this was the more important of the two pictures Wynfield showed at the Royal Academy that year:
We accordingly passed it [At last, Mother! ], waiting till we should come to his Queen Elizabeth and Essex (389), before we should draw attention to his work. Although Mr. Wynfield has much to learn yet of the manipulative subtleties of his Art, and although the historic instinct is not quite so fully developed in him as we hope yet to see it, he nevertheless deserves well of all Art-lovers, for the bold step he takes towards the higher walks of his profession. His picture will be best described in his own quotation. "Hurrying back from Ireland, Essex rode at once to the palace of Nonsuch, where the queen then was. Arriving early in the morning, he made his way, in spite of all protestations, into the royal bed-chamber. Throwing himself down before Elisabeth, he covered her hand with kisses, and besought her not to listen to the accusations of his enemies. The old queen, who was newly risen, without her wig, and in the hands of her tirewoman, received him very graciously, but later in the same day she ordered him into arrest, on the charge of high treason." [249]
The reviewer for The Illustrated London News prior to the Royal Academy exhibition mistakenly misinterpreted this incident in the lives of Queen Elizabeth and Essex reporting: "G. W. Wynfield [sic] – Queen Elizabeth and Essex on the morning before his execution" (318). In a later review after the opening of the Academy show he stated: "Mr. Wynfield has also a picture (389) of the intrusion of Essex into the bedchamber of Queen Elizabeth before her tirewoman had put on her Majesty's wig. It is significant that, though received graciously, he was ordered under arrest the same day" (470).
Bibliography
"Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex." Royal Museums Greenwich. Web. 13 December 2023. https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/elizabeth-i-earl-essex
"The Royal Academy Exhibition." The Art Journal New Series XIV (1875): 247-52.
"Royal Academy Exhibition." The Illustrated London News LXVI (15 May 1875): 470-71.
"Works for the Royal Academy Exhibition." The Illustrated London News LXVI (3 April 1875): 318.
An Incident in the Life of Queen Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth and Essex) . Art UK. Web. 13 December 2023.
Created 13 December 2023