Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley as a lion and a bear, Anne Boleyn and her executioner as a fox and a dog: these are just some of the powerful and macabre ceramic sculptures by award-winning artist Lindsey Mendick. Weaving together historical figures with the timeless symbolism of Greek mythology, Mendick’s new site-specific installation, Wicked Game, opens today (9 July) at Kenilworth Castle.

Wicked Game marks the 450th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I’s historic 19-day visit to the castle in 1575. Filling the substantial ruins of the Great Hall at Kenilworth, it offers a radical re-imagining of the Queen. The site-specific installation explores the personal and political power struggles of Elizabeth’s rule, shedding a new light on her reign, her stay at Kenilworth, and her complex relationship with courtier and long-term suitor – and Kenilworth’s owner – Robert Dudley.

Known for creating eerie, immersive environments filled with both humour and horror, Mendick’s installation at Kenilworth is her most ambitious work to date. More than a dozen scenes, painstakingly created in ceramic, capture the nature of Elizabeth's reign, her "battle of wits" and the complex political games she played to maintain her authority during her 45-year reign. Wicked Game features larger-than-life fragmented sculptures positioned as though in the middle of a strategic game of chess. Laid out on the dilapidated remains of a board that transforms the Great Hall, each sculpture vividly alludes to why Elizabeth might not have wanted to marry.

Lindsey Mendick said:

“I've been working on this body of work for about a year now and it's been such an exciting, challenging, and frightening journey! Women’s histories have often been written by men, their lives simplified, sanctified and manipulated; the virgin or the whore. For Wicked Game, I wanted to capture a specific point of Elizabeth’s 19-day visit; that moment when she felt trapped by the festivities.

“Something changed at a certain point during those 19 days; how and why is debated in this installation.  But that moment, the tipping point in a party, is something that everybody has experienced. As the saying goes, ‘nothing good happens after 12 o’clock.’”

Highlights include a chilling interpretation of the beheading of Queen Elizabeth I’s mother, Anne Boleyn. A stark warning of the dangers of marriage, this sculpture shows Anne kneeling in prayer, before the executioner, who takes the form of a ferocious dog. Another sculpture draws on Greek mythology, inspired by Circe's story from Homer's Odyssey, in which Dudley’s henchmen – and pawns in his chess game with Elizabeth – take the form of pigs, embodying greed and sycophancy in their rise to power. In a dramatic checkmate, the installation places Elizabeth at the epicentre. Around her, figures representing those who conspired for control, are shown seemingly crawling and desperate to seize hold, highlighting Elizabeth’s precarious yet powerful position.

English Heritage’s Curatorial Director, Matt Thompson, said:

“We wanted to mark the 450th anniversary of this famous event in English history at Kenilworth Castle, but rather than focusing on Dudley and the seemingly grand romantic gestures he made towards Elizabeth, Lindsey puts the queen at the centre of the story, exploring the potentially dangerous and complicated situation in which she found herself.  We have loved watching Lindsey take this narrative and translate this into her own distinctive artistic language, bringing a fresh take on this most intriguing story.  For art fans, lovers of the unconventional, and heritage enthusiasts alike, we hope Wicked Game will be an inspiring addition to the experience at Kenilworth Castle this summer.”

During the summer of 1575, in her longest ever stay at a courtier’s residence, Elizabeth spent nearly three weeks as a guest of the Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley. Dudley laid on lavish festivities known as the ‘princely pleasures’ in a final, opulent attempt to woo Elizabeth. Lindsey Mendick’s Wicked Game will mark the 450th anniversary of this famous visit and will be on display in the Great Hall until 31st October 2025.

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