Queen Elizabeth and Sons?
A portrait by the Dutch painter De Larray of Queen Elizabeth
with two children. One child holds a helm. (symbol of
Orpheus and of Athena)
Bacon's future role-- "as he saw himself
destined to hold one day in his hands the
helm of the Kingdom." (Pierre Ambiose, 1631,
in the first biography of Francis Bacon, this is a
description, surely, of the heir to the throne).
The other child holds a feather,
indicating martyrdom; Bacon's brother, Robert
Devereux, the Earl of Essex, who
was eventually executed in the Tower of London for
treason.
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