Cassandra (from the Amberley Castle 'Heroines of Antiquity') (Amberley Queens)

Cassandra, the prophetess of Troy condemned never to be believed, appears in Lambert Barnard's Amberley series representing the intellectual rather than martial strand of the heroines programme. Among the figures of the nine heroines genre, prophetesses and sibyls were common inclusions alongside military women, their inclusion reflecting humanist interest in female wisdom and the classical tradition of inspired female speech. Cassandra's tragedy — to know the truth and be unable to convince others — resonated with Renaissance writers, and her inclusion at Amberley reflects the sophisticated literary culture of the Chichester episcopal court.

Oil on panel. Cassandra's attributes — a laurel wreath, a scroll of prophecy, or a background allusion to Troy — would distinguish her from the martial heroines in the series. Barnard's rendering of female subjects shows the influence of Holbein's presence at the English court in the 1520s.