The Armada Portrait

Propaganda devices: backgrounds of battle; past glories and promises for the future.
Elizabeth stands alongside a 'crown imperial' and rests a hand on a globe, in allusion to the attempt -
canvassed by some of her courtiers - to found an English empire overseas.
Elizabeth's message is almost entirely secular - the only hint of God is in the storm depicted at top
right of her portrait - for war and the sea were God's arenas, and storms were His weapons.
Elizabeth divinizes herself, almost to the point of blasphemy. She becomes - at least in appearance -
a bejewelled idol, the 'Virgin Queen' rivalling the Virgin Mary. Elizabeth, who had abjured the
Catholic faith, and ruled a religiously divided realm, had to seek other ways of legitimating her
authority.

Detail of the right-hand cartouche.

 The Armada Portrait

Interestingly, however, the English painter does not attempt to spin England's encounter with the
Armada into a victory. No engagement between the rival fleets is shown. In the left-hand cartouche,
English ships in the foreground have the Spanish fleet under observation. The famous, formidable
Spanish crescent-shaped convoy formation is clearly visible. So is the approach of the fireships that
broke that formation when the Armada was at anchor outside Calais harbour. The wreckage of
Spanish vessels on rocky coasts, shown in the right-hand cartouche, happened long after the fleets
had disengaged, and the English had nothing to do with it.
The English never really defeated the Armada, sinking only one vessel in combat, capturing another
(which was disabled by a collision), and seeing two grounded as a result of the fireship attack. In
the absence of an English victory, the solution of Elizabeth's spin-doctors was to depict the
Armada's dispersal by storms as a victory for God.

Source: Adapted from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/armada_gallery_02.shtml

Accessed 15th October 2015

See also http://tudordynasty.blogspot.com.es/2010/03/armada-portrait-of-elizabeth-i.html