Course details
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Aims
This course aims to:
- expand your knowledge of art, architecture and visual culture in
Elizabethan England - reveal the cultural, social and political influences on the art of this period
- enhance your visual analysis skills
Course content
This course will cover the art, architecture and material culture of the Elizabethan court, ranging from portraits in oil to portraits in miniature; costume and jewellery; interior decoration and ephemeral entertainments; and objects imported from abroad. We will look at the ways art, in the broadest sense, was used as a tool by Elizabeth I and her courtiers to navigate the fraught political, social and cultural issues of the age. We will consider the motivations behind lasting architecture and ephemeral entertainments, as well as the way Elizabethans interpreted and adapted objects imported from an ever-widening world.
What to expect on this course
Each session will consist of an illustrated lecture discussing major themes and interpretations, incorporating wider class discussion and interactive opportunities for learners to hone their own skills of visual analysis.
Course sessions
The Image of Elizabeth: In this lecture we will look at the way Elizabeth I’s image developed over the course of her reign, examining the varied motivations and influences behind her large-scale oil portraiture and thinking about the ways artists have continued to picture her into the present day.
Accommodating Elizabeth: This lecture examines the Great Houses built during Elizabeth’s reign, often with a view to hosting the queen and her court. It considers Elizabethan trends in interior design and material culture, the ways that these interacted with artistic, historical, literary and political contexts.
Elizabeth in Miniature: Portrait miniatures or ‘limnings’ were the foremost art of Elizabethan England. We look at two of Elizabeth’s most renowned miniaturists, Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver and their spectacular innovations in the most intimate and vivid art form of the Tudor age.
Entertaining Elizabeth: When Elizabeth went on royal progresses she expected to be entertained. In this session we look at the ways Elizabeth’s courtiers prepared for a visit from the queen and the extraordinary theatrical and artistic works they commissioned for the purpose.
- Empress Elizabeth?: Elizabeth’s reign witnessed a vast expansion in England’s maritime and trade ambitions. This lecture explores the visual and material evidence for Elizabethan global connections and the sometimes fraught nature of early encounters with communities in the New World and the Ottoman Empire.
Learning outcomes
As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:
- discover key images and objects made and admired in Elizabethan England
- increase your awareness of the role art played in Elizabethan society
- acquire a greater understanding of art historical analysis and approaches
Required reading
There is no required reading for this course. See Course materials for supplementary reading once registered.