Mystery Elizabethan Portrait Reidentified as Penelope Rich?

April 20 2026

Image of Mystery Elizabethan Portrait Reidentified as Penelope Rich?

Picture: The Royal Collection Trust

Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:

The Sunday Telegraph (behind a paywall) published a story over the weekend regarding a new proposed identity for a Marcus Gheeraerts portrait in the Royal Collection (pictured). The portrait of an Unknown Lady has attracted lots of theories over the years, and the latest is that it may actually depict Penelope Rich, the sister of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. Researchers at the Shakespeare Insti­tute, Uni­versity of Birm­ing­ham, and University College London has suggested that various clues contained within the painting's inscription point towards Lady Rich being the sitter (I need to access a copy of the article to read all the evidence for myself!). 


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