The Early Modern Images

The coat of arms in Egerton 2572 appears on fol. 6r and occupies almost the entire page; the Guild's motto, ‘De praescientia dei’, is written beneath (see plate 27). The arms are quartered by a red cross, the first and fourth quarters depicting fleams, a tool traditionally associated with the work of barbers. The second and third quarters show a crowned spatula and the Tudor rose. Upon the cross is an English lion. The arms are crowned by a mantel and golden opinicus. Two lynxes appear as supporters, both wearing chained crowns as collars around their necks.

On fol. 7r the sequence of royal portraits begins with a depiction of Henry VII. In their entirety, the portraits show a royal line of succession stretching as far as George III although there is an evident cluster of images from Henry VII to Elizabeth I. These portraits merit particular attention as they were all produced at the same time. Each of the five representations – Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth I – follows the same basic pattern and colour palette. Corinthian pillars and a Romanesque arch adorned with cherubs frame each monarch in turn. The portraits, along with the coat of arms, have been produced by the same artist and sit apart from a later portrait of James I which, although stylistically similar, shows differences in colour palette, composition and execution (see plates 29–34).

Within the frame of the pillars, curtains have been painted behind Elizabeth where they do not appear in the previous portraits. This embellishment is used to denote the reigning monarch at the time of the earliest portrait's production. It is a visual embellishment which is repeated for James I's image. A further marker of Elizabeth's contemporary regal status appears beneath the earliest portraits where the name of the monarch is written in the same late sixteenth century hand. The lettering identifying Elizabeth is noticeably more decorative than those that go before. Interestingly, James's name appears on a plinth painted below his portrait and is therefore integrated into the image far more successfully. Given the earlier artist's attempts at stylistic consistency, this change appears as a later innovation.