Elizabeth Vernon, Countess of Southampton

Born in 1573, Elizabeth Vernon was the daughter of Sir John Vernon of Hodnet in Shropshire. She was first cousin of the Earl of Essex, who procured her the position of one of Queen Elizabeth’s Maids of Honour. She married Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, secretly, in 1598. A portrait miniature of Wriothesley - the patron of several poets and writers and intimate of Shakespeare - by Nicholas Hilliard is on display in the Rothschild Gallery on the lower floor.

This portrait was probably painted around 1603. The sitter may be depicted in the sumptuous robes and coronet worn for James I’s coronation in 1603. A full-length portrait of her daughter-in-law, the 4th Countess of Southampton by Van Dyck is displayed elsewhere in this gallery. The contrast in style demonstrates the revolution which took place in court portraiture within successive generations of one family.

Bought; 1984; sotheby's