an English portrait painter who became Serjeant Painter to Queen Elizabeth I in 1581. Very little is known about his early life except that he was a grandson of Sir John Gower of Stittenham, Yorkshire. His earliest documented works are the two 1573 companion portraits of Sir Thomas Kytson and his wife Lady Kytson, now in the Tate Gallery in London. 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.
