Portraits Painters And Publics In Provincial England 1540-1640

Robert Tittler investigates the growing affinity for secular portraiture in Tudor and early Stuart England, a cultural and social phenomenon which can be said to have produced a 'public' for that genre. He breaks new ground in placing portrait patronage and production in this era in the broad social and cultural context of post-Reformation England, and in distinguishing between native English provincial portraiture, which was often highly vernacular, and foreign-influenced portraiture of the court and metropolis, which tended towards the formal and 'polite'.

Tittler describes the burgeoning public for portraiture of this era as more than the familiar court-and-London based presence, but rather as a phenomenon which was surprisingly widespread both socially and geographically throughout the realm. He suggests that provincial portraiture differed from the 'mainstream', cosmopolitan portraiture of the day in its workmanship, materials, inspirations, and even vocabulary, showing how its native English roots continued to guide its production.

Innovative chapters consider the aims and vocabulary of English provincial portraiture, the relationship of portraiture and heraldry, the painter's occupation in provincial (as opposed to metropolitan) England, and the contrasting availability of materials and training in both provincial and metropolitan areas.

The work as a whole contributes to both art history and social history; it speaks to admirers and collectors of painting as well as to curators and academics. Review: It is to be hoped that this study will be read by art historians of all stripes and that it will help to spark off discussions between the representatives of different regional variants of the Renaissance.

Andrea Galdy, Sehepunkte the stories embodied in the portraits examined ... are extraordinary. This is an excellent book. Kathryn Davies, Journal of British Studies The importance of Robert Tittlers new book for anyone interested in British art or the history of the Tudor and early Stuart periods cannot be overstated; indeed it is astonishing that this is the first fully rounded account of the portraiture produced outside aristocratic circles in early modern England.

Building on his previous study of civic portraits (The Face of the City, 2007), Tittler applies the approach and skills of an economic and social historian to provide a revisionist, objective and compelling assessment of the factors influencing the emergence of a characteristic English School of portraiture between the age of Holbein and about 1640.

Tara Hamling, Burlington Magazine Tittler's book is original not only in its admirable willingness to explore the lesser-known, often nameless, artists of less-populated regions, but also in its thorough contextualization of the growing market for portraiture among the middling class. Jonathan Rinck, Sixteenth Century Journal