COURT PAINTING IN ENGLAND - from Tudor to Victorian Times.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour pictorial illustrated dw/dj and white lettering; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean,contents bright,tight and near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - an unread copy? Bright,clean, unblemished,publisher's original,plain dark green cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,1-226pp [paginated] includes an introduction,14 chapters,profuse b/w+colour illustrations throughout the text and the book,a bibliography and index; ,plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,b/w frntis and contents+illus lists/ tables. Portraiture as we know it began in Tudor times.Before that,royal images were stylized and likenesses were not considered important.But with the emergence of powerful dynasties at the end of the Middle Ages,the portrait - a recognisable individual likeness - reminded viewers powerfully of the personality of the sovereign.It was useful in arranging dynastic marriages across Europe,and brilliant jewelled miniatures were valued as ornaments or gifts. This book spans three centuries,from Holbein's great portrait of Henry VIII,to Landseer's mornful Queen Victoria,seated on a pony held by John Brown.Most of the chief artists of any period - Hilliard, Lely, Kneller, Cooper, Zoffany, van Loo, Ramsay, Gainsborough - were connected with the Court,and had a title such as 'The King's Limner' or 'Painter-in- Ordinary to the Queen',and a salary.Charles I displayed such love and knowledge of art that he attracted to his elegant Court foreigners of the stature of Rubens and Van Dyck.But the indifference to art of the first two Georges meant the decline of Court painting in the first half of the 18thC. William Gaunt is both authoritative in his knowledge of the subject, and superbly readable.The artists themselves and their life-stories,the successive kings and queens with their courtiers and mistresses,the grim realities of The Civil War and the revived luxuries of The Restoration,are alike reflected in the paintings illustrated and in the stylish prose and lively contemporary anecdotes.Wealth and fame were a consequence and a condition of success at Court: Sir Peter Lely and Sir Godfrey Kneller both lived in magnificent style and owned splendid art collections. Sir Thomas Lawrence,painting the Allies who defeated Napoleon,made an impression on the rulers of Europe without parallel since the days of Titian.The paintings illustrated vary as widely as the subjects - from the formal royal portraits to charming family groups; from delicate enamalled miniatures by Hilliard to massive allegorical ceilings by Rubens.But Court painting,splendid and indispensable as it has been,was fated to give way to the photograph.Queen Victoria's interest in painting died,to a large extent,with her consort,and royal portraits,emblazoned on mugs,medals, flags and stamps,became popular art. William Gaunt is well-known both as art critic and biographer.His best known books are 'The aesthetic adventure' and 'Pre-Raphaelite tragedy',which have been in print many years. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight/ value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!