Court Painting In England: From Tudor To Victorian Times
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Very good
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
A richly detailed survey of English art history, Court Painting in England: From Tudor to Victorian Times chronicles the evolution of royal and aristocratic portraiture across four centuries of British cultural life. William Gaunt traces the procession of great masters — from Holbein's commanding likenesses of the Tudor court to the grand manner portraits of Van Dyck, and onward through the Georgian elegance of Reynolds and Gainsborough to the more sentimental Victorian sensibility — illustrating how each era's artistic conventions both reflected and shaped the image of power. Written with scholarly authority yet an accessible, appreciative tone, the work presents court painting not merely as decorative commission but as a vital record of political identity, social aspiration, and national self-perception. Gaunt argues persuasively that the artists who served the English crown were among the most technically accomplished of their age, and he details the fascinating interplay between foreign-born painters and the gradual emergence of a distinctly English school. This is an indispensable volume for anyone passionate about British art, royal history, or the enduring relationship between patronage and artistic achievement.
Author: William Gaunt
Format: Hardback
Published: 1980, Constable London
Genre: History of arts
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Very good
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
A richly detailed survey of English art history, Court Painting in England: From Tudor to Victorian Times chronicles the evolution of royal and aristocratic portraiture across four centuries of British cultural life. William Gaunt traces the procession of great masters — from Holbein's commanding likenesses of the Tudor court to the grand manner portraits of Van Dyck, and onward through the Georgian elegance of Reynolds and Gainsborough to the more sentimental Victorian sensibility — illustrating how each era's artistic conventions both reflected and shaped the image of power. Written with scholarly authority yet an accessible, appreciative tone, the work presents court painting not merely as decorative commission but as a vital record of political identity, social aspiration, and national self-perception. Gaunt argues persuasively that the artists who served the English crown were among the most technically accomplished of their age, and he details the fascinating interplay between foreign-born painters and the gradual emergence of a distinctly English school. This is an indispensable volume for anyone passionate about British art, royal history, or the enduring relationship between patronage and artistic achievement.