Plimpton Sieve Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I
The Pl1mpton "Sieve Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I" is an oil painting by English painter George Gower dated 1579, and now in the collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. It is one of three near-identical portraits of Elizabeth I by Gower that represent the queen holding a symbolic sieve. It was acquired by George Arthur Plimpton in 1930, hence the name. His son, Francis T. P. Plimpton, willed it to the Folger. Iconographic description. Three-quarter length portrait of Queen Elizabeth I holding a sieve, with a globe in  the left background and the royal coat of arms on the right. The sieve represents her self-identification as the "Virgin Queen" by association with Tuccia, the Roman Vestal Virgin who proved her virginity by carrying water in a sieve. Inscriptions. The painting has three areas of text in yellow uppercase letters: Other versions. There are at least two other versions of Gower's "Sieve Portrait". One is known only through an 18th-century description by George Vertue. The other measures 34 x 24 inches and is now in a private collection in Florida. Plimpton Sieve Portrait of Queen Elizabeth