Portrait of Elizabeth Claypole (née Cromwell) by John Michael Wright, oil on panel, 1658, 21 1/4 in. x 17 3/4 in. (540 mm x 451 mm), National Portrait Gallery, London
The second daughter of Oliver Cromwell, Elizabeth was his favourite child and is supposed to have exercised a moderating influence on him. She married John Claypole in 1646. This allegorical, and posthumous, portrait shows her as Minerva, goddess of wisdom. The carved relief represents the goddess springing from the head of Jupiter (Jove) with the Latin motto AB JOVE PRINCIPIUM ('From Jove is My Beginning'), in allusion to her father, whose cameo portrait she holds.
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