The Dutch-born English Baroque portrait painter Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) is chiefly known for his drowsy, sensual beauties and bewigged courtiers associated with the Restoration court of Charles II. He is often seen as merely successor or "imitator" of Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641), with a common resemblance in all his sitters and an inability to capture a true likeness, as well as an absence of any personal characterization or psychological interest. Alternately, this dissertation aims to reveal Lely's genius of superb draughtsmanship, fine color and lively composition, as well as to examine and reinstate the artist's impact and deep impress on British painting. Lely's early style owes much to his Dutch origin and training with the pioneers of Dutch classicism, and the distinctive qualities of his early work and the change in his traditions and techniques are examined. The development of Lely's portrait style is examined - from his arrival in England in the early 1640s through his years as leading aristocratic and society portraitist and Principal Painter to the King in the 1660s, to his mature work in the 1670s when his work is characterized by a restricted palette and cool restraint. And finally, Lely as collector is examined. He assembled one of the largest and most impressive private collections of art in seventeenth-century Europe, and his acquisitions and their influences, benefits and effects are considered. Upon Lely's death, his highly important collection was dispersed by auction in a series of four well-publicized sales in 1681, 1682, 1688 and 1694, respectively. These sales brought many important works to the London art market, and were some of the most important sales to date in England, as well as the most spectacular of the modern auction world. Although Lely initially emulated the style and techniques of Van Dyck, he juxtaposed his profound Dutch qualities of rich color, dramatic illumination and romantic landscapes, and ultimately imbued a sensuality, languor and luxurious negligence into the traditions and continuity of Van Dyck's grand Baroque style of English portraiture. Subsequently, together later with Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), Sir Peter Lely completely dominated British portraiture from the death of Van Dyck in 1641 until William Hogarth (1697-1764) challenged his style in the first half of the eighteenth century. Due to large file size, some images within this ebook do not appear in high resolution.

In this study, L.E. Semler begins with a comprehensive, historical definition of Mannerism in visual arts from which he derives four key terms that constitute the nucleus of the aesthetic: technical precision, elegance, grazia, and the difficulta:facilita formula. These principles - interwoven with one another and with maniera - are derived from visual arts but are specifically designed to be transferable to any medium. The rest of the book situates the English poets in relation to the visual arts - including painting, limning, gold- and silversmithery, architecture, and garden design - and discusses their verse in relation to the key Mannerist principles.

Staid respectability and ineffectualness. A special feature of the book is a collective biography of all 1,525 men, women, and children at the court of Queen Anne, the first such study of the personnel of any large institution of later Stuart government.

Addressing the critical reception of painter Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98-1543), this volume consists of two parts. The first section comprises a series of short essays reflecting responses to Holbein throughout history which forged his critical and popular reputation. This section also includes overviews of the most important monographs and exhibitions, as well as a selection of research published since 1980. The second, much larger part is an annotated bibliography containing some 2,500 entries on a range of subjects including books, essays in scholarly journals, and articles published in the popular media. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

A comprehensive annotated bibliography of texts relating to the Northern European artist, with an historiographic essay on various aspects of Holbein's reception. This is volume 2 in the ARTISTS RESOURCE MANUALS series.

The regal courts of the English Stuart Kings, from James I (1603-1625) to the ill-fated James II (1685-1689), were magnificent affairs. In a country otherwise given to increasingly austere Puritan ways of living, the royal court shone with a brilliance usually associated with the courts of the Catholic kings of mainland Europe. They were centres of great culture, patronage, ceremony and politics. The real importance of the courts, though down-played for many years, is now beginning to be fully recognised and this first major study of the Stuart courts in England, Scotland and Ireland examines them in their full cultural and historical context. Scholars of international reputation and up and coming, younger scholars have been brought together to give us an insight into many aspects of the Stuart courts. This book includes essays on culture and patronage of the arts and social history. What was it really like at the court? What rules applied? How did the courtiers behave? Finally, the crucial interplay between court life and political life, and politics, is examined in detail. This book is a major contribution to a flourishing area of scholarship and will be required reading for anyone interested in seventeenth-century history, court studies or the arts in the early modern period.

This study examines the complex and shifting popular print images of Oliver Cromwell.

This companion is a collection of newly-commissioned essays written by leading scholars in the field, providing a comprehensive introduction to British art history. A generously-illustrated collection of newly-commissioned essays which provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of British art Combines original research with a survey of existing scholarship and the state of the field Touches on the whole of the history of British art, from 800-2000, with increasing attention paid to the periods after 1500 Provides the first comprehensive introduction to British art of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, one of the most lively and innovative areas of art-historical study Presents in depth the major preoccupations that have emerged from recent scholarship, including aesthetics, gender, British art’s relationship to Modernity, nationhood and nationality, and the institutions of the British art world

This is the story of the forging of a national cultural institution in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Britain. The Royal Academy of Arts was the dominant art school and exhibition society in London and a model for art societies across the British Isles and North America. This is the first study of its early years, re-evaluating the Academy's significance in national cultural life and its profile in an international context. Holger Hoock reassesses royal and state patronage of the arts and explores the concepts and practices of cultural patriotism and the politicization of art during the American and French Revolutions. By demonstrating how the Academy shaped the notions of an English and British school of art and influenced the emergence of the British cultural state, he illuminates the politics of national culture and the character of British public life in an age of war, revolution, and reform.