I finally got some help identifying this portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. I wikied Elizabeth I of England and found an external link to a catalog of Elizabeth portraits maintained by a woman named Marilee Cody.

Marilee didn't have this picture listed, but I emailed her anyway to see if she'd come across it in her studies. Sure enough, she had. She even knew the name and the collection where this portrait is housed.

The painting is called "the Queen in a Petrarchan Triumph of Eternity," painted by an unknown artist of the English school circa 1600. It's currently part of the Methuen Collection at Corsham Court, Corscham, Wiltshire, UK.

Here are two more detailed copies of the portrait, one from Corscham Court's site and the other kindly forwarded to me by Marilee. It's a haunting image, and I'm thrilled to know finally where I can see the real thing . . . some day.

I found this image in a reference book (no source information) a few years ago while doing research for my article "Gendering Sovereignty: Marriage and International Relations in Elizabethan Times" (European Journal of International Relations 3.3, September 1997: pp. 291-318).

I'd like to see a full color image of this intriguing portrait (which shows a less stylized and more vulnerable Elizabeth), but I haven't been able to find this image anywhere else and don't have any way of identifying it. Can you help me identify this portrait (e.g., artist, museum, title, etc.)?

If you have any information, please email me. Thanks!