There is something otherworldly about this delicate drawing of Queen Henrietta Maria. At first glance, it appears to be a fanciful court dress: a richly decorated gown, enormous sleeves, a jewelled headdress and a sweeping feather. Yet the design was intended for something far more theatrical.
Inigo Jones
The queen's costume was created by architect and stage designer Inigo Jones for her appearance as 'Divine Beauty' in Tempe Restored, the spectacular court masque performed at the Banqueting House, Whitehall, on 14 February 1632.
Jones’s surviving costume design, now in the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth, reveals just how carefully the queen’s appearance was conceived. This was not simply fashionable court dress. Every element had to work under theatrical lighting and contribute to the allegorical world of the masque.
The costume was described by a contemporary observer as being made of “watchet satin” – a pale blue – embroidered with silver stars that appeared to rise from the surface of the fabric. On her head was a crown of stars mixed with small falls of white feathers.
The drawing shows how Inigo Jones transformed those ideas into a costume that would catch the light. The bodice is covered with star-like ornaments, while the enormously rounded sleeves give Henrietta Maria a deliberately impressive silhouette.
The full skirt spreads outward from the waist, creating an almost celestial radiance around the Queen. At the throat, a high, pleated collar frames her face, while the elaborate headdress rises above her head like a constellation. (See Historic Royal Palaces video below.)
For Inigo Jones, costume was inseparable from stagecraft. He understood that the audience at Whitehall would not experience the masque as they might an ordinary play. Music, movement, painted scenery, machinery, lighting, costume and architecture were intended to become one extraordinary spectacle. His designs were particularly concerned with the way materials reflected and caught light, turning embroidered stars and jewels into points of brilliance.
The symbolism was unmistakable. Beauty, embodied by the queen, becomes a force capable of restoring order to the enchanted world of Tempe. The masque therefore made Henrietta Maria herself part of its argument: her physical beauty was presented as a reflection of an inner, moral and almost divine beauty.
It is also worth remembering that Tempe Restored was deeply personal to Henrietta Maria. The masque was dedicated to her, and she was closely involved in its creation and performance. It had originally been planned for an earlier date but was postponed because she was suffering from an eye ailment.
Today, Inigo Jones’s fragile pencil design gives us an extraordinary glimpse behind the spectacle. The surviving drawing is quiet and almost unfinished in appearance. Yet from these few lines emerged one of the most dazzling images of Stuart court culture: a young queen transformed, through silk, silver, feathers, stars and theatrical illusion, into Divine Beauty.
Tony Riches
Silks, Crowns & Fairies: Dressing a 17th Century Queen
Historic Royal Palaces
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