Rule #5: Expand your brand

If you wanted to be powerful, then people needed to know what you looked like. Portraits projected your status and your brand to your professional and personal networks. A Tudor power player might hire a court painter to produce several versions, and colleagues might buy copies of these versions to display in their picture galleries alongside other power players.

A powerful pair, copied together

In his youth, the Earl of Southampton caught the attention of both Shakespeare and Elizabeth I. His early portraits represent him as a sensual young man with long, flowing hair. Shakespeare dedicated his best-selling poems—Venus and Adonis and Lucrece—to Southampton, writing in Lucrece that “The love I dedicate to your Lordship is without end.” Later in life, Southampton opted for a more professional look. In this portrait, he adopts a power pose, with his hand on hip. His armor, sword, helmet, staff, and gauntlet reflect his military experience. The George pendant (St. George slaying the dragon) signals his status as a Knight of the Order of the Garter (Rule 2).

Southampton’s wife, Elizabeth Vernon, was one of Elizabeth I’s chief ladies-in-waiting and first cousin to the Earl of Essex. When the queen learned of Southampton and Vernon’s secret marriage, she imprisoned the earl and the pregnant countess. Elizabeth would imprison the earl again for his role in Essex’s rebellion (Rule 9). This version of her portrait was adapted to match the size and style of her husband’s portrait. Her jewels include a diamond-studded “S” for Southampton in her necklace and bracelet.

Headshots can be ordered in multiple sizes

At least thirteen versions of artist Daniel Mytens’s portrait of Southampton, including those reproduced here, are known to survive. Several versions of artist Paul van Somer’s portraits of the countess also survive.