Portrait of Captain Thomas Lee
by GHEERAERTS, Marcus the Younger, Oil on canvas, 231 x 151 cm
Thomas Lee (1551-1601) was related to Sir Henry Lee (1533-1611), Elizabeth I’s Champion and creator of imagery for her annual Accession Day celebrations. Henry may have helped devise the complex symbolism of this portrait. Thomas served in the English colonial forces in Ireland. His bare legs are a fantasy evocation both of the dress of an Irish soldier, and that of a Roman hero. Thomas was suspected of treachery to Elizabeth and visited London in 1594 partly to refute this.
The Latin inscription in the tree refers to the Roman Mucius Scaevola, who stayed true to Rome even when among its enemies. Lee implies that he too is faithful.