• Was an English portrait painter.
• He was a grandson of Sir John Gower of Stittenham, North Yorkshire.
• His earliest documented works are the two 1573 companion portraits of Sir Thomas Kytson and his wife Lady Kytson.
• Gower is also famous for painting the Plimpton "Sieve" Portrait of Queen Elizabeth in 1579, now at the Folger Shakespeare Library.
• The sieve that Elizabeth carries signifies the Roman vestal virgin Tuccia, who carried water in a sieve to prove her chastity, thus representing Elizabeth's status as a virgin queen.
• Gower was appointed to the position of Serjeant Painter to Queen Elizabeth in 1581.
• This allowed him to paint most of England’s aristocracy.
• The post also made him responsible for painted decoration at the royal residences, and on coaches and furniture.
• Among his works were a fountain and the astronomical clock, at Hampton Court Palace.
• He also inspected portraits of the Queen by other artists prior to their official release.
• Gower died in London.
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