The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I – a masterpiece of the English Renaissance once owned by Sir Francis Drake – has been saved, thanks to the generosity of thousands of individuals, grant-making foundations and a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I – a masterpiece of the English Renaissance once owned by Sir Francis Drake – has been saved, thanks to the generosity of thousands of individuals, grant-making foundations and a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
This outstanding historic portrait will enter public ownership for the first time in its 425-year-history and will hang in the Queen’s House when it reopens following a major restoration on 11 October.
An Art Fund appeal generated £1.5m from 8,000 donations. The Heritage Lottery Fund gave £7.4m; the Art Fund and Royal Museums Greenwich were major donors.
Stephen Deuchar, Director, Art Fund, said, 'This campaign has been a triumph of popular will. The painting captured the national imagination in 2016 as surely as the defeat of the Armada itself had done in 1588. Record numbers of donors, large and small, stepped forward with determination and generosity, creating an irresistible momentum that has brought this great work into public ownership at last.'
The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I, English school, c. 1590
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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