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FOREIGN INFLUENCES ON AND INNOVATION IN ENGLISH TOMB SCULPTURE IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY by Nicola Jane Shilliam B.A. (Warwick) Ph.D. dissertation Warwick University History of Art September 1986 SUMMARY This study is an investigation of stylistic and iconographic innovation in English tomb sculpture from the accession of King Henry VIII through the first half of the sixteenth century, a period during which Tudor society and Tudor art were in transition as a result of greater interaction with continental Europe. The form of the tomb was moulded by contemporary cultural, temporal and spiritual innovations, as well as by the force of artistic personalities and the directives of patrons. Conversely, tomb sculpture is an inherently conservative art, and old traditions and practices were resistant to innovation. The early chapters examine different means of change as illustrated by a particular group of tombs. The most direct innovations were introduced by the royal tombs by Pietro Torrigiano in Westminster Abbey. The function of Italian merchants in England as intermediaries between Italian artists and English patrons is considered. Italian artists also introduced terracotta to England. A group of terracotta tombs in East Anglia, previously attributed by tradition to Italian artists, is re-examined. A less direct initiation of iconographic and stylistic innovation occurred through English artists' use of foreign patterns. The synthesis of such two-dimensional imagery by English sculptors is examined in certain tombs in Hampshire and Sussex. The influence of the Florentine royal tombs on English tomb sculpture in the latter half of the period is illustrated by alabaster tombs from an English workshop and by three other important tombs. The abandoned Italian project for the tomb of Henry VIII is studied in the context of the religious, political and economic changes that contributed to the breakdown of a supportive environment for Italian artists in England. Finally, the relevance of religious Injunctions and iconoclasm to the evolution of English tomb sculpture by the middle of the century is considered. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ....................................... ii Listof Abbreviations in Text ..........................iv Listof Illustrations ..................................vi Introduction ........................................... 1 Chapter I: Pietro Torrigiano and the Royal Tombs ...... 16 ChapterII: Intermediaries ............................. 60 ChapterIII: Terracotta ................................ 80 Chapter IV: Tombs in Sussex and Hampshire .............. 138 Chapter V: Tomb Sculpture in the Latter Half of the Reignof Henry VIII .................................. 184 Conclusion ............................................. 243 Bibliography ........................................... 249 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to several individuals and institutions for the help and advice they offered during my years of research for the preparation of this dissertation. In particular, I should like to express my gratitude to Julian Gardner, who continued to support my endeavours, even from a great distance. At Warwick I benefited from conversations with Richard Morris and Paul Hills and Robin Clifton, who first encouraged the particular interests that led to this work. Loveday Gee and Alan Watson gave much generous help with my photographic expeditions. I should like to acknowledge my gratitude to Professors J.B. Trapp, Michael Baxandall, Sydney Anglo, Keith Thomas, and the late Sir Anthony Blunt, for their influence on my work. In London the staffs of the Warburg Institute and the Institute of Historical Research were particularly helpful. At Yale I was inspired and helped by Gloria Kury, Walter Cahn, George Hersey and Andrea Norris. The staff at the Yale Center for British Art, especially Anne-Marie Logan, and the former director, Edmund P. Pillsbury, were extremely supportive. For assistance with travel in Italy, France and Spain I thank Barbara and Charles Robertson, the Courtauld Institute Summer School and the Ruskin Society for enabling me to undertake fieldwork and photography in England. My support and travels in the U.S.A. were made possible by the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Other individuals who gave help with this project were Pauline Plummer, Robin Clifton, Janet Mitchell, -1- Michael Maslin, Shaun Twiss, Reginald Cave, Mr. and Mrs. Avens, Mr. and Mrs. Sharp and the vicars of many English country churches. Last, but with tremendous gratitude, I thank my parents, Ida, Susanne, Christopher, Nicholas, Diane, Richard Smithey and especially Oliver Avens for unfailingly generous help. -2- List of Abbreviations in the Text Ailgemeines Lexikon U. Thieme and F. Becker, eds., Aligemeines Lexikon der bildenen Ktinstler von der antike bis zur gegenwart, Leipzig, 1907-1949. 47 vols. D.N.B. L. Stephen and S. Lee, eds., Dictionary of National Biography, London, 1882- T.E.A.S. Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society. E.N.P. E. Panofsky, Early Netherlandish Painting, New York, 1971. I.R.S. J. Pope-Henriessy, An Introduction to Italian Sculpture, London and New York, 1971, vol. 2. N. Pevsner, B.E. N. Pevsner, ed., The Buildings of England, Harmondsworth, 1951-74. 41 vols. P.M.L.A. Proceedings of the Modern Language Association. R.C.H.M. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and constructions of England, H.M. Stationery Office, 1910- S.A.C. Sussex Archaeological Collections. T.R.P. P.L. Hughes and J.F. Larkin, eds., Tudor Royal Proclamations, New Haven and London, 1969. G. Vasari, Levite G. Milanesi, ed., Levite de'2 eccellenti pittori, scultori ed - iv - V archite_itori italiani, 9 vols., Florence, 1909 ed. V.C.H. W. Page, et aL, eds., Victoria Counties History of England, London, 1906- L&P J.S. Brewer, etal., eds., Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, 1509-1547, 21 vols., in 35 parts, London, H.!1.S.O., 1862-1910. Key to Abbreviations in Illustrations (C) Courtauld Institute negative. (W) Warwick University negative. (NMR) National Monuments Record. (S) Shilliam negative. (E) University of East Anglia negative. 1. Tomb of Robert Sherborne, Bishop of Chichester. Chichester Cathedral, Sussex. (S) 2. Tomb of Charles VIII of France. Guido Mazzoni. (Gaignires drawing, no. 1344 B.N. Est. Rs. Pe Ia fol. 48) 3. Tomb of Condestable Alvaro de Luna arid Wife. Sebastian de Almonacid. Capilla de Santiago, Toledo Cathedral. (Sanz Vega negative) 4. Tomb of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany. A. Giusti and assistants. St. Denis, Paris. (A. Blunt, Art and Architecture in France, 1500-1700, Harmondsworth, 1953, p1. 14) 5. Tomb of Lady Margaret Beaufort. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (RHCM) 6. Tomb of Prince Don Juan. Domenico Fancelli. Santo Tomas, Avila. (H. Keutner, Sculpture from Renaissance to Rococco, London, 1969, fig. 94) 7. Tomb of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Domenico Fancelli. Capilla Real, Granada Cathedral. (L. Dominguez negative) 8. Tomb of Francis II, Duke of Brittany and Marguerite de Foix. Michele Colombe. Nantes Cathedral. (H. Keutner, op. cit., fig. EJ) 9. Tomb of the Children of Charles VIII. Michel Colombe and Girolamo da Fiesole. Tours Cathedral. (Pierre Pradel, Michel Colombe, Paris 1953, p1. XXVII) 10. Tomb of Pope Sixtus IV. Antonio Pollaiuolo. Grotte Vatican, Rome. (J. Pope-Hennessy, I.R.S., fig. 72) U.. Tomb of Mary of Burgundy. Renier van Thienen, Jan Borman, and others. Bruges cathedral, Belgium. (J.A. van Houte, De geschiedenis van Brugge, 1982, fig. 124) 12. Tomb of Lady Margaret Beaufort, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 13. Tomb of Mary of Burgundy, detail. Jan Borman (cast by vi vii Reriier van Thienen). Bruges Cathedral, Belgium. (T. Muller, Sculpture in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain, 1400-1500, Baltimore, 1966, fig. l6lA) 14. Tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 15. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 16. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey London. (C) 17. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 18. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 19. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 20. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiarlo. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 21. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 22. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 23. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 24. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 25. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 26. Tomb of Henry VII, detail. Pietro Torrigiano. Westminster Abbey, London. (C) 27. Tomb of Medea Colleoni. Antonio Amadeo. Colleoni Chapel, Bergamo. (J. Pope-Hennessy,