Simbolistica costumului elisabetan

Abstract

The Elizabethan era (1558-1603), under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, experienced an explosion in both culture through literature and the arts through music, architecture and painting. At the same time, the techniques for making jewelleries and fabrics and their dyeing were developed, an important place being occupied by embroidery and lace. This can be noticed throughout that period in the painted portraits of Elizabeth and her courtiers, but also in the few costume elements that have been preserved to this day, such as Margaret Layton’s jacket, currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the dress in the „Rainbow Portrait” at Hampton Court Palace. All the dresses in the Queen’s portraits have motifs either embedded in the fabric, such as pomegranate, or embroidered, such as oak leaf, moon, stars, sun, snake, eyes and ears. Also, pearl  applications that give the costume an unmatched atmosphere but also a symbolism that has not yet been fully deciphered. In addition, the portraits contain objects such as prayer book, crown insignia with sceptre and sphere, Earth globe, sieve and rose, as well as animals such as ermine and birds on the pendants depicting the Phoenix bird and the pelican. From all the symbols above, it follows that Elizabeth I was a wise queen (serpent), of unparalleled power and wealth (Earth globe), pure (ermine and the multitude of pearls), virgin (sieve), rose (the legal successor to the throne) and who sacrificed herself for her people (pelican pendant).