Elizabeth I (1533-1603) – Queen of England, the last in Tudors dynasty.
Her historical names – “The Virgin Queen”, “Gloriana”, “Good Queen Bess”.
Her motto – “Semper Eadem”, which means “Always the Same”.
She was the unwanted daughter of her father (King Henry VIII) and she did not have the chance to know her mother (Anne Boleyn), who was beheaded when Elizabeth was a baby. But she always remembered very well the destiny of all her farther`s wives.
In 1564 in one of her letters Elizabeth wrote: “I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married”.
The uneasy childhood she had formed her absolutely fantastic vision of herself, vision which quite soon developed to the incredible wisdom. Elizabeth is the example of the monarch who was able to make her personality work for her as a person and a queen; for the throne and for the state. She always wanted to be herself, to be independent. So she invented a brilliant formula which provided the ideal image of a virgin queen. This image suited practically for all different sides; first of all for her (it made her free), for the church (did not matter catholic or protestant), for the Parliament (it for a long time cared about the queen’s marriage and she for a long time just played a beautiful role of an unmarried woman searching for a good match), and for the people and their faith.
As a result, she did not need to struggle with herself like her father did. That is why she was successfully resolving very complicated religious problems; that is also why she won the duel with Fillip II – King of Spain. Hence, she was popular in her own kingdom and very respected abroad.
I created two different images – first is “Princess Elizabeth”, the second one – “Queen Elizabeth”.
Dolls:
1. “Princess Elizabeth”
Created: July, 2008
Height: 31 cm
Material: artificial clay (air-hardening sculpting material), wire, fabric
Costume: three layers of clothing
2. “Queen Elizabeth”
Created: August, 2008
Height: 31 cm.
Material: artificial clay (air-hardening sculpting material), wire, fabric
Costume: one layer of clothing
About image:
Elizabeth holds a sieve in her left hand (here she shown “as a Tuccia, a Vestal Virgin who proved her chastity by carrying a sieve full of water from Tiber River to Temple of Vesta without spilling a drop” (Wiki).
© Text and visuals created by IRINA GORELKINA
Dolls Global 