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A Birthday Celebration so Important

There will even be a Special Guest appearance by a Queen

Edited by Madelyn Miller, the Travellady

When naming a child, people often look to their ancestors. The state of Virginia was actually named for the virgin queen, Queen Elizabeth I. And this wonderful relationship is being reinforced by the special exhibit coming to Richmond, Virginia.

Because although the Queen never had any children, she did have an important territory named for her.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will commemorate the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, with "Rule Britannia!," a major exhibition of 16th- and 17th-century paintings whose core will be unprecedented loans from the collection of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

Another significant loan, which will introduce the exhibition, will be one of the finest portraits in existence today of Queen Elizabeth I, known to history as the virgin queen and in whose honor Virginia was named.

Called the Armada portrait, the painting is still in the hands of descendants of English naval hero Sir Francis Drake (1540?-1596) and has never before been exhibited in the United States. 

And while everyone is invited to see the Queen’s legendary portrait, it won’t be going anywhere else soon. In fact, this special exhibit will only be at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

But back to the story.

It was Drake who led Queen Elizabeth I's fleet in defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, 19 years before Jamestown was settled.

The exhibition will be shown in Richmond from April 28 through Aug. 12, 2007. The corporate sponsor is Wachovia, and the exhibition is underwritten by The Julia Louise Reynolds Fund. Additional support was provided by the Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Exhibition Endowment, Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Smith, the Fabergé Society, the Fabergé Ball Endowment, and The Council of VMFA. The exhibition is a signature event of Richmond Region 2007, a celebration of America's 400th birthday.

Ten important portraits and maritime paintings from the Royal Collection will be on view.

VMFA Director Alex Nyerges says loans of that scale from the queen's palaces - and of such massive works - are rare. There has been no comparable loan from the Royal Collection in recent years to any museum outside the United Kingdom, he says.

The Armada portrait will introduce what Dr. Mitchell Merling calls "a significant group of grandiose portraits of British royalty, including some from the queen's collection." Merling is VMFA's Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art.

Among them will be portraits of King James I - in whose honor Jamestown was named - along with paintings of King Charles I and Catherine of Braganza, who was Queen Consort of King Charles II.

Seven masterpieces from the queen's world-renowned collection of 17th-century Dutch seascapes will be on view.

"All of them show events - departures, battles, races - in which the British royal family actually participated," Merling says.

Among them are paintings by artists including Johannes Lingelbach (1622-1674), Cornelis Vroom (1591-1661) and Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633-1707).

The exhibition takes its name from Britannia, a legendary British warrior-queen who held sway across the oceans, a symbol of Britain's naval dominion. The country's greatest naval conflicts occurred in the 1660s and, in response, King Charles II revived the use of the figure of Britannia. Her image was modeled on Frances Stuart, Duchess of Richmond, thought to be the greatest beauty of the Restoration Court. Her portrait and story will form an adjunct to the exhibition.

The royal paintings to be on view at VMFA customarily hang in a variety of the queen's premier palaces, including Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and St James's Palace. Some have never been publicly exhibited before. VMFA has agreed to contribute to the conservation costs of a number of these paintings.

Sort of like being offered a face lift when you get to a certain age.

"They will be photographed in color for the first time, and our audience will be the first to see them in their full glory," says Robin Nicholson, VMFA's associate director for exhibitions. "We plan to publish a catalogue to accompany the exhibition as a significant contribution to the scholarship of 17th-century British art and patronage."

The guest curator for "Rule Britannia!: Art, Royalty & Power in the Age of Jamestown" is Richard Ormond, former director of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London. He has secured the loan of six additional paintings from the Maritime Museum that were either commissioned by, or belonged to, members of the royal family.

Nicholson says they include an outstanding series of nautical portraits by Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) that were commissioned by James, Duke of York, to celebrate his victories as Lord High Admiral in the Dutch wars; one of the greatest of 17th-century ship portraits, Lely's depiction of Charles I's royal flagship; a dramatic marine painting by Abraham Storck (circa 1635-1710), showing the Duke of York's flagship in the midst of battle; and two further Dutch paintings by Jan Wyck (1652-1700) and Van de Velde relating to the last sea-borne invasion of Britain in 1688.

Additional works on loan will enhance the themes of the exhibition. Among them will be a preparatory painting by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) of the Duke of Buckingham as Admiral of the Fleet (from the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth); a depiction by Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) of Queen Henrietta Maria (from the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.), which will hang beside a portrait of her husband, King Charles I (from the Royal Collection); and Lely's majestic portrayal of King Charles II (from the collection of the Duke of Grafton).

The exhibition will be staged in the Great Hall at VMFA, which is itself an architectural homage to the 17th-century English country house.

"It will be a colorful pageant of grand portraits and dramatic seascapes, many of which were particular favorites of the monarchs who commissioned them. The Great Hall will be transformed into a palatial interior, and the approaches to the museum and the exhibition will be decked with flags, banners and details from 17th-century royal ceremonials to create a sense of the museum en fête," says Nicholson.

A complementary display of elaborate costumes from the recent BBC-A&E television drama, "The Last King: The Power and the Passion of Charles II," will offer the visitor an additional experience of 17th-century art, culture and spectacle, he says.

"Rule Britannia!" will be shown only at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is an educational institution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The galleries are open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to keep the museum free to all by making a donation ($5 suggested). For more information about exhibitions and programs, telephone 804-249-1332 or visit the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Web site, www.vmfa.museum.

Madelyn Miller is a travel and food writer. She has never met a Queen, but has seen a few pictures of them. You can read her stories on www.travellady.com, www.carladynews.com, www.chocolateatlas.com, www.cocktailatlas.com, www.teaAtlas.com and others.

FOR MORE ABOUT RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

HELPFUL WEBISTES

www.visit.richmond.com

www.virginia.org

GREAT GUIDEBOOKS

THE THIRTEEN COLONIES
Travel Historic America
Fodor’s
www.fodors.com

REVOLUTIONARY MOTHERS
By Carol  Berkin
www.aaknopf.com
Borzoi Book published by Alfred A. Knopf

BEST VIRGINIA MUSIC

An evening at the Painted Lady played by contemporary pianist Keith Nesbit. $18.95
keith@nesbit.net

BEST VIRGINIA COOKBOOKS

The Best of Virginia Farms
Cookbook & Tour Book
Recipes, People, Places
By CiCi Williamson, Illustrations by Garry Pound
CI Publishing
Menasha Ridge Press
www.cipublishing.com
www.menasharidge.com

Celebrate Virginia!
by (Rowena Fullinwinder co-authored the Celebrate Virginia!  book with James A. Crutchfield and Winette Sparkman Jeffery)
Publisher - Thomas Nelson
Cost: $19.95 at Rowena's gift shop or order online www.rowenas.com
Rowena@rowenas.com

Cookbooks from the Junior League of Richmond, Virginia
Purchase Virginia Fare and Virginia Seasons at the Clothes Rack (2618 W Cary St bookstores, or from this website...
http://www.jlrichmond.org/richmond/npo.jsp?pg=retailmarket3

BEST VIRGINIA CHILDREN’S BOOKS

The Adventures of Rowena and the Jam and Jelly Factory
The Adventures of Rowena and Carrot Jam the Rabbit
both were independently published

WHERE TO STAY

Omni Richmond Hotel
100 South 12th Street
Richmond, VA 23219
804-344-7000
www.omnirichmond.com
very central location and free wireless

DON’T MISS

17th Street Thursday morning Farmer’s Market and Craft Fair 8-12

FAVORITE RESTAURANTS

Julep’s

Nacho Mama’s

BEST BREAKFAST

Café Gutenberg
This café, book store and wine lounge is located in the historic Shockoe Bottom district. The River District café is steeped in international flair. Besides good food, Café Gutenberg offers a large selection of international newspapers, wireless Internet access and a variety of cultural and culinary events.

BEST THING TO TAKE HOME

Southern Cooking skills learned at Mis en Place Cooking School
104 Shockoe Slip (lower level)
Richmond, VA 23219
www.miseenplaceshockoe.com
Christine Wansleben, chef & ownerN. R VA 22314
703-519-3776
703-519-3776

Could you have survived? Visit the website, www.Jamestown1607.org to learn more and play the interactive experience, "Stories of a Nation."

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