George Gower

Very little is known about his early life except that he was a grandson of Sir John Gower of Stittenham, North Yorkshire.

Gower painted a self-portrait in 1579 (right) that shows his coat of arms and his artist's tools of his trade.

An allegorical device shows a balance with an artist's dividers outweighing the family coat of arms, "a startling claim in England where a painter was still viewed as little more than an artisan.

"[1] Gower is also famous for painting the Plimpton "Sieve" Portrait of Queen Elizabeth in 1579, now at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

The post also made him responsible for painted decoration at the royal residences, and on coaches and furniture.