Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1565-1601), Soldier; favourite of Elizabeth I.

A Venetian observer described how, after taking Cadiz, Essex had 'on this last voyage...began to grow a beard, which he used not to wear'. This portrait was painted soon afterwards and shows him as a Knight of the Garter. It may have been commissioned by Sir Henry Lee, from whose collection it descends, possibly as a pair to a similar portrait of himself (Royal Armouries, London). Lee, with Essex's help, was made a Garter Knight in 1597.