Dr Charlotte Potter and Chris Walters respond to an article by Morwenna Ferrier on the cultural value of the bow

I thoroughly enjoyed Morwenna Ferrier’s untangling of the cultural significance of the bow ( Untie me! Why big bows are everywhere – feminine, ironic and strangely subversive, 18 November ). I read it just after teaching a seminar on Elizabethan virginity, and I couldn’t help but think of the famous Armada portrait.

The painting is an overt celebration of martial victory, with Spanish ships floundering in the view above Elizabeth’s right shoulder, British ships sailing triumphant on the left, her hand firmly placed on a globe. But she is also covered in pink bows, and a huge pearl hangs from a delicate white bow at the top of her skirts, symbolic of her virginity.