George Gower: Portrait of Lady Philippa Coningsby (1578)

 

(Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, USA)

A painting by the English artist George Gower (c.1540–1596). This painting is an example of Elizabethan portraiture. The lady shown here is Phillipa Fitzwilliam (1530-1596), the wife of Sir Thomas Coningsby (1550-1625), the couple had 11 children. Her husband was an English soldier and Member of Parliament, notable for his diary of military action in France in 1591. The cherries in Lady Philippa's hand are traditional symbols of transience. This meaning is reinforced by the inscription (in French): "Pleasure dies but honour endures". Painting from 1578.