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"By 16th-century standards, Elizabeth I was something of a feminist icon. Ascending the throne at 25, she demanded control over her personal relationships and her image, and was often portrayed as the untouchable Virgin Queen (though she famously carried on a long-term relationship with at least one of her courtiers). She also brought England out of political instability and ushered in a wave of exploration that established the country as a world power. At the National Portrait Gallery in London, a new exhibition of 16th-century paintings surveys the queen's influence on culture and fashion, and showcases the aristocrats, merchants, writers, and other figures who helped shape commerce and art in the Elizabethan era.\n\nPinterestFacebook*Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses,* attributed to Isaac Oliver, c. 1590.\n\n Image courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, London\n\nMuch of the exhibition is a study in iconography, with the queen frequently depicted with classical motifs as a godlike figure. In the miniature Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses, the monarch looks out from a platform over Juno (Queen of Heaven), Pallas Athena (Goddess of War), and Venus (Goddess of Love)\u2014a sovereign who stands as an amalgamation of all that these deities embody.\n\nPinterestFacebook*Sir Walter Raleigh,* unknown English artist, 1588.\n\n Image courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, London\n\nSimilarly, in a portrait of poet and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh, a crescent moon can be seen in the upper-left corner, underneath which conservators uncovered a small passage of water. These symbols imply the sailor's devotion to Elizabeth I: Raleigh compared her to a Greek moon goddess in a series of poems he wrote, and the image suggests the queen is the metaphorical ruler of the tides on which he sails to the New World.\n\nPinterestFacebook*Three Unknown Elizabethan Children,* unknown Anglo-Netherlandish artist, c. 1580.\n\n Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London\n\nThe exhibition also documents the rise of the middle class at the time, as merchants and traders sought to create a visual record of their families. Though many of the portraits' sitters and artists remain unknown, the paintings detail changes in 16th-century fashion: high ruffs, full sleeves, and a slashing technique applied to outerwear that reveals rich fabrics underneath.\n\nThrough January 5, 2014, at the National Portrait Gallery, London; npg.org.uk\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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