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Tarnya Cooper discusses Elizabethan society
on our weekly podcast
historyextra.com/podcastsON THE PODCASTHome
A nurse clasps
a tragic child
This tender and touching portrait provides an
insight into the domestic context of well-to-
do households. It depicts a nurse holding
a well-dressed young boy, perhaps giving
an intimation of the bonds that must have
existed between servants and their masters,
particularly when they cared for children. The
portrait is thought to depict John Dunch, the
young son of Edmund and Anne Dunch,
members of the gentry from Little Wittenham
in Berkshire. John died in 1589, shortly after
this portrait was painted. The nurse may be
Elizabeth Field, a long-serving attendant who
is mentioned in the will of Anne Dunch.Home
A maid of honour surrounds
herself with pearls and pendants
This remarkable portrait depicts Elizabeth Vernon,
a female courtier and maid of honour to Elizabeth I,
in her dressing chamber. Vernon became Countess
of Southampton in 1598, the year this picture is
believed to have been painted. Here she is shown
in the process of dressing (or undressing), while
combing her hair. An array of pearl necklaces,
jewelled bracelets and pendants can be seen laid
out on the table next to the countess.
This portrait gives an indication of the cost and
labour of dressing in elite households, and may
have been painted for Vernon’s new husband, the
flamboyant Henry, Earl of Southampton – William
Shakespeare’s only known patron.Dr Tarnya Cooper is curatorial and collections
director of the National Trust. She is the author of
Citizen Portrait: Portrait Painting and the Urban Elite
of Tudor and Jacobean England and Wales (Yale, 2012)
and Elizabeth I and Her People (National Portrait
Gallery, 2013)