Tudor Classical Architecture

Birkbeck BA History of Art, Art and Architecture at the Tudor Courts, Year 4 Laurence Shafe To What Extent and For What Reasons Did the Classical Tradition of Architecture Appeal to Tudor Patrons During the Reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI? Laurence Shafe Page 1 of 17 Laurence Shafe, Birkbeck BA History of Art, Art and Architecture at the Tudor Courts, Year 4 To What Extent and For What Reasons Did the Classical Tradition of Architecture Appeal to Tudor Patrons During the Reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI? The conventional historical view has been that a classical tradition re-emerged in Italy and slowly spread across the rest of Europe. England was thought to be late in accepting the classical style and when it did it was ‘not permitted to develop beyond an initial stage of applied ornamentation’ as it was believed the intellectual understanding was missing.1 Buildings such as Somerset House and Longleat were seen as early examples but, apart from those designed by Inigo Jones, country houses in a classical style were not thought to have become popular until the eighteenth century. Recently Jonathan Foyle has put forward an alternative thesis. An emergent interest in humanistic studies by the English Court circle, coupled with the placement of English representatives in Rome, led to the purchase of Italian architectural treatises…by1490. These abstract principles and prescriptions were interpreted by the circle of Wolsey and his masons and embedded within an established architecture…just as the contemporary Florentines, Romans, Venetians, Milanese and French all forged Renaissance buildings to theoretical guidelines set within the identity of their own genius loci, and according to their own political motivations.2 Both views accept that there were classical elements but the key issue that separates them is whether such classical additions were well informed. Did English patrons make choices based on a detailed understanding of classical texts or were they merely adding ‘applied ornamentation’. The answer is partly determined by the weight of evidence regarding the availability of classical architectural texts and partly by the extent and way in which such classical features were used. Foyle’s thesis would push an ‘English Renaissance’ back to before 1520. The combined reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, lasted 44 years from 1509 to 1553, and during this period there was an enormous growth in building and building conversion, partly because the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538 resulted in land and 1 J. Lees-Milne, Tudor Renaissance (London: B.T. Batsford, 1951), p. 9 2 J. Foyle, An Archaeological Reconstruction of Thomas Wolsey’s Hampton Court Palace, unpublished Ph.D. thesis (2002), pp. 291-293 Laurence Shafe Page 2 of 17 church buildings becoming the property of the nobility. The Tudor English country house ‘flourished in England in a freely eclectic and highly individual way unparalleled anywhere else in Europe.’ 3 I will look at some of the key patrons and their buildings to understand the classical influences and test Foyle’s thesis. Building a country house was an expensive project and done well it could make an important political statement regarding the patron’s power, ancestry, wealth and learning. All favour and power ultimately came from the king who demonstrated his power through his magnificence. As Sir John Fortescue wrote, Item, it shall need that the kyng haue such tresour, as he mey make new bildynges whan he woll, ffor his pleasure and magnificence;4 Magnificence was of critical importance as it visibly demonstrated riches and therefore reinforced power. The failure to display magnificence is shown by the example of Henry VI; whereas Richard II, Henry V and Edward VI rivalled any court in Europe for their magnificence, Henry VI failed to uphold the expected standard and this earned him contempt throughout Europe.5 Edward IV and Henry VII did not make the same mistake and abided by the four principal considerations to create magnificence—the cost of the item, the cunning or skill required to produce it, its novelty and its placement alongside other objects. The other reason for incorporating classical elements was dynasty; demonstrating one’s nobility and long and unquestionable lineage. Henry’s father, Henry VII, needed to establish a long and credible lineage and so willing scholars traced his lineage back to the fabled first king of England, Brutus of Troy.6 Although a few scholars, such as William Camden, disputed the Brutus story it was useful to flatter and reinforce the status quo and scholarly accuracy was not always appropriate.7 It was also thought that classical buildings existed in England, for example, the White Tower was thought to have been built by Julius Caesar. The classical tradition was therefore seen not as a foreign import but as a reminder of Britain’s ancient past as the centre of what was believed to be the old western empire and 3 M. Airs, ‘The English Country House in the Sixteenth Century’, Oxford Art Journal, Vol. 2, Art and Society (Apr., 1979), p. 15 4 Sir John Fortescue, The Governance of England, c. 1470, quoted from S. Thurley, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England (1993), p. 11 5 Thurley (1993), p. 12 6 M. Griffin, ‘Cadwalader, Arthur, and Brutus in the Wigmore Manuscript’, Speculum, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Jan., 1941), p. 109 7 W. Greenleaf, ‘Filmer's Patriarchal History’, The Historical Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2 (1966), pp. 163 Laurence Shafe Page 3 of 17 it established links back to the classical world of Greek democracy and learning and the ancient Roman world of empire. Another, sometimes overlooked, influence on art and architecture was its educational use. Sir Thomas Elyot, in his The Boke Named The Governour, chiefly directed at Henry VIII said, Thou shalte be demed then worthy for to raigne Whan of thy selfe thou wynnest the maistry 8 We may be surprised at the apparent presumption but it was regarded as part of a prince’s duty to accept moral advice to help him maintain his honour and virtue. It was recommended by Elyot that all surfaces should be covered in fables, maxims and proverbs to encourage virtue and Henry could have been considering such advice when he ‘created exemplary architectural devices such as the Nonsuch courtyards.’ 9 In the fashion conscious Tudor age with its devices, puzzles and hidden meanings the architecture could also demonstrate erudition, ancient wisdom and how in touch you were with the latest ideas. It may be wondered why the classical tradition was not rejected as pagan idolatry. The issues are complex but the learned culture of the period was based on the liberal arts which were ‘overwhelmingly dependent on the legacy of Greece and Rome’.10 Within the humanist tradition architecture, painting and sculpture were seen to be liberal arts.11 Also, as Richard Baxter wrote in Christian Directory of 1673, ‘Scripture telleth us not how to build a house, to plough, sow, weave, or make our works of art’.12 However, during this period there were negative associations relating to the classical world and the production of classical images, for example, Roman covetousness and cruelty were deprecated and some were offended by nudity. The need to import foreign craftsmen with the necessary skills was also criticized by many. The complexity of the issues surrounding the use of classical mythology is illustrated by the Countess of Shrewsbury who in the 1560s converted copes by replacing 8 G. Walker, Persuasive Fictions: Faction, Faith and Political Culture in the Reign of Henry VIII (London: Scolar Press, 1996), p. 99 9 Walker (1996), p. 111 10 K. Thomas, ‘English Protestantism and Classical Art’, in L. Gent (ed.) Albion’s Classicism: The Visual Arts in Britain 1550-1660 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995), pp. 221-238 11 This bold statement is discussed more fully in C. Westfall, ‘Painting and the Liberal Arts: Alberti's View’, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec. 1969), pp. 487-506 12 R. Baxter, A Christain Directory or, A Body of Practical Divinity, and Cases of Conscience, Vol IV (London: James Duncan, 1825), p. 553 Laurence Shafe Page 4 of 17 saints with mythological gods and goddesses and Christ was even replaced on the cross by Diana.13 Early Examples of the Classical Tradition There are some very early examples of classical influence, for example, in the twelfth century the Bishop of Winchester imported classical statues.14 There are also early tapestries that incorporate classical gods and goddesses, such as the well documented set depicting the Trojan Wars bought by Henry VII in 1488.15 As early as 1460-61 John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester commissioned a manuscript whose title page was inscribed with a marbled antique monument.16 ‘The beginning of the Italian Renaissance in England’ is regarded by some historians as the tomb of Henry VII which was completed by Henry VIII based on a design by Torrigiano.17 Torrigiano travelled extensively throughout Europe and was one of the first Italian Renaissance sculptors to work in Austria, the Netherlands, England, the Holy Roman Empire and Portugal. Torrigiano was not the first Italian sculptor in England; this was Guido Mazzoni, who was invited by Henry VII to design his tomb but it was never actually built. Torrigiano’s tomb is English in its high sarcophagus, overall gilding, and the idealised effigies but its use of antique motifs such as garlands, grotesques, birds and acanthus leaves breaks with the English tradition and is inspired by Pollaiuolo’s tomb of Sixtus IV. Torrigiano was a foreign artist and so his tomb raises the question of how much knowledge of classical architecture was available in England and to what extent foreign skills were necessary.

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