Art in England: the Saxons to the Tudors, 600-1600

369 Pages·2016·34.173 MB·English

by  Oxbow Books.;James, Sara Nair

Art In EnglAnd
To my late parents and grandparents, for their encouragement and support:
Sara Brooks Nair and Dr. William Duer James
Lillian Duer and Dr. William Daniel James
Sara Logan Brooks and Charles Perry Nair, Jr
And to those whose teaching, inspiration, and hospitality transformed this book from a dream to a reality:
The late Dr. Mabel Margaret Morrison
Peter and Bridget Rowe
Clare Rowe and the late Keir Smith
Dr. Cynthia Haldenby Tyson
Art In EnglAnd

The Saxons to the Tudors, 600–1600
Sara n. James
Oxbow Books
Oxford & Philadelphia
Published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by
OXBOW BOOKS
10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW
and in the United States by
OXBOW BOOKS
1950 lawrence road, Havertown, PA 19083
© Oxbow Books and the individual authors 2016
Hardcover Edition: ISBn 978-1-78570-223-5
digital Edition: ISBn 978-1-78570-224-2
A CIP record for this book is available from the British library
library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
names: James, Sara nair, author.
title: Art in England : the Saxons to the tudors, 600-1600 / Sara n. James.
description: Oxford ; Philadelphia : Oxbow Books, [2016] | Includes
bibliographical references.
Identifiers: lCCn 2016010231| ISBn 9781785702235 (hardcover edition) | ISBn
9781785702242 (digital edition)
Subjects: lCSH: Art, Medieval--England. | Art, renaissance--England. |
Art--England--History.
Classification: lCC n6763 .J36 2016 | ddC 709.02--dc23 lC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016010231
All rights reserved. no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission from the publisher in writing.
Printed and bound in India by replika Press Pvt. ltd.
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Front cover: Tomb of Richard Beauchamp, the First Earl of Warwick, Beauchamp Chapel, facing east, 1437ff., gilded latten.
Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick, England. Photograph: author
Back cover: Detail of saint adorning the window jambs of the east window, polychromed stone, 1437 ff, Beauchamp Chapel,
Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick, England. Photograph: author
CONTENTS
Preface .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................ix
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................................................xi
Chapter 1. Missionaries, monks, and marauders: Pre-conquest England …
the Heptarchy–Edward the Confessor, c. 600–1066 ...........................................................................1
The heritage of Roman Britain: 43 BC–410 AD .......................................................................................................................1
Early Anglo-Saxon England c. 450–830 .......................................................................................................................................2
The book as art: Hiberno-Saxon manuscript illumination ......................................................................................................14
Hiberno-Saxon sculpture ..............................................................................................................................................................25
Migration of Hiberno-Saxon designs .........................................................................................................................................25
England under the late Saxon kings ...........................................................................................................................................26
The Anglo-Saxon legacy ................................................................................................................................................33
Chapter 2. Propaganda and power, innovation and influence: Norman art and architecture before
and after the Conquest… Edward the Confessor and the Norman kings, 1042–1154 ....................39
Pre-conquest Romanesque architecture: the origins of the style ...........................................................................................39
Post-Conquest ecclesiastical Romanesque architecture in stone ............................................................................................44
Architectural ingenuity in the parish church .............................................................................................................................54
Monastic contributions to the development of the Romanesque style ................................................................................56
Romanesque architectural sculpture ...........................................................................................................................................59
Romanesque painting: religious manuscript illumination ........................................................................................................62
Romanesque painting: secular books ..........................................................................................................................................66
Romanesque painting: murals ......................................................................................................................................................66
Interior church furnishings and decorative arts ........................................................................................................................70
Royal castles and halls ...................................................................................................................................................................73
The Norman legacy .......................................................................................................................................................77
Chapter 3. Variations on an imported theme: Early English Gothic under the Angevins
and the Plantagenets. Henry II–Henry III, 1154–1272 ...................................................................83
Plantagenet ascendancy: the character of the monarchs .........................................................................................................83
Origins of Gothic stone architecture and vaulting ..................................................................................................................84
Early Gothic architecture in northern England: the Cistercian connection ........................................................................85
Early Gothic architecture in the south of England: the French connection .......................................................................89
Stained glass windows .................................................................................................................................................................100
The ecclesiastical patronage of Henry III and French influence ........................................................................................106
Royal castles and fortifications ..................................................................................................................................................111
Early Gothic architecture in London .......................................................................................................................................113
Timber frame construction ........................................................................................................................................................114
Vernacular architecture in timber frame ..................................................................................................................................115
Manuscript illumination: 1154–1272 ........................................................................................................................................116
Early Gothic painting: murals and altarpieces ........................................................................................................................121
Early Gothic decorative arts ......................................................................................................................................................123
Summary of Early Gothic art in England ...............................................................................................................................123
vi Contents
Chapter 4. Distinctively and decidedly English: the Decorated Gothic style under the Plantagenets.
Edward I and Edward II, 1272–1327 ..............................................................................................127
Late Plantagenets: the character of the monarchs ................................................................................................................127
Decorated Gothic architecture: the Geometric phase (c. 1250–1290) ...............................................................................128
Decorated Gothic architecture: the Curvilinear phase (c. 1290–1350) ...............................................................................133
Innovative Cathedral towers and spires ..................................................................................................................................137
Stained glass windows ................................................................................................................................................................138
Sculptural embellishments .........................................................................................................................................................140
Church furnishings of carved wood........................................................................................................................................142
Royal works ..................................................................................................................................................................................144
Defensive works ..........................................................................................................................................................................144
Fortified manor houses and timber frame construction ......................................................................................................146
Evolution of timber frame and hammerbeam construction in non-domestic buildings ................................................147
English sculpture: tombs and effigies in England .................................................................................................................148
Painting at Westminster .............................................................................................................................................................151
Manuscript illumination .............................................................................................................................................................153
Textiles: opus anglicanum ..............................................................................................................................................................155
Summary of Decorated Gothic art in England ..........................................................................................................156
Chapter 5. Particularly, peculiarly, and perpetually English: the Perpendicular Gothic style
and Wars of the Roses. The last Plantagenet, the Lancasters, and the Yorks, 1327–1485............159
The catastrophic fourteenth and fifteenth centuries: the character of the monarchs .....................................................160
Origins of Perpendicular Gothic architecture .......................................................................................................................161
The Perpendicular style in London and royal circles ............................................................................................................162
Ecclesiastical Perpendicular.......................................................................................................................................................167
Perpendicular style in parish churches ....................................................................................................................................175
Remarkable works in timber: noble houses and great halls .................................................................................................178
Remarkable works in timber: ecclesiastical and royal great halls ........................................................................................180
Fortifications and engineering works in the Perpendicular style .........................................................................................185
Institutional architecture: universities ......................................................................................................................................187
Perpendicular Gothic sculpture ................................................................................................................................................189
Cadaver tombs ............................................................................................................................................................................192
Painting in England: later Gothic books .................................................................................................................................193
Panel painting: the International Gothic style ........................................................................................................................196
Mural painting in England .........................................................................................................................................................199
Magnificence in tapestry ............................................................................................................................................................200
Chapter 6. The art and architecture of magnificence: the Tudor ascendancy. Henry VII, 1485–1509 ..........205
The character of the monarch: Henry VII and the victory at Bosworth Field ................................................................205
Early Tudor architecture ............................................................................................................................................................206
Early Tudor ecclesiastical residences in London ...................................................................................................................209
Early Tudor ecclesiastical residences outside London ..........................................................................................................210
Vernacular architecture: black and white Tudor buildings ...................................................................................................212
Architecture of the nobility following the Wars of the Roses: prodigy houses ...............................................................212
Monastic architecture in the early Tudor period ...................................................................................................................213
Royal patronage of institutional architecture .........................................................................................................................214
Sculpture in early Tudor England ............................................................................................................................................217
Painting in early Tudor England: manuscripts and the royal library ..................................................................................219
Panel painting in early Tudor England ....................................................................................................................................220
English portraits .........................................................................................................................................................................220
Portrait sculpture ........................................................................................................................................................................224
Royal tombs .................................................................................................................................................................................225
Textiles: tapestries as a display of magnificence ....................................................................................................................226
Textiles: opus anglicanum as a display of magnificence ...........................................................................................................226
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................................227
Contents vii
Chapter 7. Image making and image breaking: Art under the Tudor monarchs.
Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I, 1509–1558 ............................................................................229
The character of the monarch: Henry VIII ............................................................................................................................229
Patronage of the Cardinal Lord Chancellor ............................................................................................................................231
Royal architectural projects before the fall of Wolsey ...........................................................................................................236
Sculpture in the early reign of Henry VIII: a brief encounter with the Italianate ...........................................................239
Ecclesiastical tomb designs: the perpetuation of the Perpendicular Gothic ......................................................................242
Royal architectural projects following the fall of Wolsey ......................................................................................................243
The Dissolution of the Monasteries: a turning point in Tudor domestic architecture ....................................................246
Architectural magnificence of the court: Tudor prodigy houses .........................................................................................247
Civic and institutional architecture ............................................................................................................................................249
Magnificence in tapestry .............................................................................................................................................................250
Tudor painting: religious paintings in early sixteenth-century England ..............................................................................253
Secular painting in sixteenth-century England ........................................................................................................................253
Portraits .........................................................................................................................................................................................254
Illuminated manuscripts, documents, and books ....................................................................................................................265
The private audience: portraits in miniature during the reign of Henry VIII ...................................................................266
Henry VIII’s progeny: Edward and Mary, 1547–1558 ...........................................................................................................268
Portraits under Edward and Mary .............................................................................................................................................269
Architecture under Mary and Edward ......................................................................................................................................271
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................................................272
Chapter 8. Gloriana and her court: the art and architecture of Elizabeth I, 1558–1603 .................................279
Architecture under Elizabeth: the prodigy house...........................................................................................................280
The emergence of the architect: Robert Smythson .......................................................................................................286
William Cecil, Lord Burghley: pater patriae and his patronage.....................................................................................295
Late Elizabethan prodigy houses .........................................................................................................................................299
Public buildings in the age of Elizabeth ...........................................................................................................................303
Secular architecture and theaters ..........................................................................................................................................304
Elizabethan painting: the portrait ........................................................................................................................................307
Images of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth I......................................................................................................................312
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................................................322
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................................................................................327
Index ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................341

PrEFACE
My enduring fascination with England began in early Although I hope this book will expand the horizons
childhood, but without a mandate from the graduate of students and educators, I have envisioned it as having
program in Shakespeare and Performance at Mary Baldwin broader horizons than a textbook. I also aim to reach
College to create an art history course that complemented enthusiasts of art history, architectural history, English
their curriculum, I would never have taken the path that literature and theater, and/or the early history of the
has led to this book. Since my students’ backgrounds British Isles. I hope that they find that this book, with
rested primarily in English history, literature, and theater chronological organization and a contextual view, will
performance and mine in Italian renaissance art and enrich their specific areas of interest. My primary goal in
Medieval Studies, I felt a broad, contextual approach would this study is to demonstrate that England has a strong but
serve everyone best. to form a context for pre-Jacobean under-recognized artistic tradition throughout the medieval
English history and literature, I planned a study of art, millennium that both ties to, yet stands distinctively apart
architecture, and material culture covering the medieval from, the art of the continent. In so doing, I highlight
millennium in England, 600–1600. As I began my research, extraordinary achievements and monuments both by
I found that no such overview existed in manageable book looking at peculiarly English intentions and media that have
form. I also discovered that English scholarship concerning separated England from the European mainstream and by
the medieval millennium tended to be organized into placing these achievements in a broader European context. I
either monographs or focused categorical, periodic, or hope to leave readers with new ideas to ponder by presenting
thematic topics. In light of this dearth of contextual and a fresh perspective and offering new insights. Finally,
chronological studies, I have committed 16 years to the and most importantly, I intend for this book to celebrate
daunting task of writing this book from my research, lecture the largely unsung exuberance, brilliance, ingenuity, and
notes, student responses, site visits, and many stimulating invention in English art that I have come to love.
conversations. the bibliography, even in its edited form, What fired my imagination and has sustained me through
bespeaks of the extensiveness of this effort. the long and arduous struggles of gathering slivers of
the images presented another challenge. A new art information from many disparate sources, deciphering
history course usually requires adding new images to a architectural plans, then amalgamating, winnowing,
college slide collection – or today, a digital image data base. In organizing, editing, illustrating, and transforming notes
2000, the college packed me off to England to do research, into an engaging narrative is my personal journey with
visit sites, and acquire more slides. to my surprise, slides England. this odyssey extends back to my childhood in
had suddenly become obsolete. the most efficient way to the early 1950s, with my earliest memories of watching
gather the necessary images, I realized, was to update my our new television set. On 2 June 1953, at almost 6 years
technology. thus, without warning, I catapulted myself into old, I sat riveted to the broadcast of the coronation of
the digital age. Armed with a digital camera, I photographed Queen Elizabeth II. I was spellbound by the pageantry,
as many English sites from as many angles as I could. Some the splendor, the traditions, the soaring ancient buildings,
of these images illustrate monuments in this book. I am now and the somber road to leadership. this indelible childhood
grateful that this project pushed me into twenty-first century, fascination led to a lifelong fascination with England and
technology skills. My teaching resources and research skills anything or anyone English. I made scrapbooks, savored
have benefitted tremendously, as has this book. So has the courses in English history in high school and in college,
ArtStor database, which, like our slide collection, was low but, to my disappointment, no college or university that
on images of English art, architecture, and architectural I attended offered even one course in early English art.
sculpture. I have donated 2137 of my images to the ArtStor, later, I turned my scholarly interests to medieval studies,
forming the Sara n. James European Architecture and and then in 1989, I settled on the Italian renaissance for
Sculpture Collection and making the images available to a my doctoral degree, another passion that continues on a
larger academic audience. parallel track.