Mort d'Elisabeth, reine d'Angleterre, en 1603

Delaroche's Death of Elizabeth, Queen of England, in 1603 from 1828 was one of the first paintings to establish his reputation for psychologically penetrating historical drama centered on powerful women at moments of crisis. Queen Elizabeth I, who had reigned for forty-five years and defined the Protestant English monarchy, died—according to Strachey's and Delaroche's dramatized version—alone on cushions on the floor after refusing to lie in bed, in a state of melancholic withdrawal that some contemporaries connected to her regret over Essex's execution. Delaroche's version presented Elizabeth as a figure of broken will and mortal vulnerability in pointed contrast to the mighty queen of legend, and the theatrical staging of the death scene—the ornate Elizabethan costume, the dim interior—displayed his mastery of period historical detail.

The deathbed scene is staged with theatrical precision, the queen's dying figure surrounded by courtiers in historically researched costumes. Delaroche's smooth, highly finished technique and careful attention to period detail create a convincing historical tableau.