The image of Elizabeth I has its own significant historiography, with each decade over the past half-century appropriating the legacy of paintings and prints to discuss current issues of historical and social enquiry. Most recently, the representation of Elizabeth after her death, from her monument in the Abbey to the latest film, has been the subject of several monographs. This paper looks again at the diverse original contexts of these images, both in terms of physical space and of ideological intention, and places sculptural depiction more centrally than is often credited.