DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63671#0300
190
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Illumina-
tions.
Miniatures.
Sixteenth
century.
Hilliard.
The Olivers.
THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF PAINTING IN ENGLAND.
No native school of painting, in the ordinary sense of the
term, existed in England before the reign of Charles I.,
who encouraged and patronised art in this country as no
monarch had done before him. In a certain department
of painting, however—that of illumination—there had
been a long line of successful painters, by whom we
possess many fine examples, some dating as far back as
the sixth and eighth centuries. Later on, under King
Alfred and then under the Conqueror, a flourishing school
existed which attained to a perfection perhaps unequalled
by any other European country in the eleventh, twelfth,
and thirteenth centuries. At this period, however, much
of this art-work was closely allied to that of " miniature-
painting;" so that it is difficult to determine precisely
the date at which this latter style commenced. At all
events it occupied a high position in the end of the
sixteenth century, when Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac
Oliver were accomplished representatives of the art, and
painted numerous portraits in miniature with great
success. They were succeeded by Oliver's son Peter, and
by John Hoskyns, who maintained the character of the
school, after which it declined.
The kings of England prior to the time of Charles I.,
like those of France, invited foreign artists of celebrity to
visit their courts, and gave them commissions to execute.
Henry VII. employed Jan Mabuse in this manner; and
in Henry the Eighth's reign Hans Holbein took up his
residence in England, and remained here during the last
seventeen years of his life. Under Queen Mary, Queen
Elizabeth, and James I. several Flemish painters—viz.,
Gerard Horembout, Sir Antonio Moro, Lucas de Heere,
Cornelis Janssens, and Daniel Mytens—occupied posts at
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Illumina-
tions.
Miniatures.
Sixteenth
century.
Hilliard.
The Olivers.
THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF PAINTING IN ENGLAND.
No native school of painting, in the ordinary sense of the
term, existed in England before the reign of Charles I.,
who encouraged and patronised art in this country as no
monarch had done before him. In a certain department
of painting, however—that of illumination—there had
been a long line of successful painters, by whom we
possess many fine examples, some dating as far back as
the sixth and eighth centuries. Later on, under King
Alfred and then under the Conqueror, a flourishing school
existed which attained to a perfection perhaps unequalled
by any other European country in the eleventh, twelfth,
and thirteenth centuries. At this period, however, much
of this art-work was closely allied to that of " miniature-
painting;" so that it is difficult to determine precisely
the date at which this latter style commenced. At all
events it occupied a high position in the end of the
sixteenth century, when Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac
Oliver were accomplished representatives of the art, and
painted numerous portraits in miniature with great
success. They were succeeded by Oliver's son Peter, and
by John Hoskyns, who maintained the character of the
school, after which it declined.
The kings of England prior to the time of Charles I.,
like those of France, invited foreign artists of celebrity to
visit their courts, and gave them commissions to execute.
Henry VII. employed Jan Mabuse in this manner; and
in Henry the Eighth's reign Hans Holbein took up his
residence in England, and remained here during the last
seventeen years of his life. Under Queen Mary, Queen
Elizabeth, and James I. several Flemish painters—viz.,
Gerard Horembout, Sir Antonio Moro, Lucas de Heere,
Cornelis Janssens, and Daniel Mytens—occupied posts at