Quidditas Volume 8 Article 4 1987 The Wilton Diptych and the Absolutism of Richard II Sumner Ferris California University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rmmra Part of the Comparative Literature Commons, History Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Renaissance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Ferris, Sumner (1987) "The Wilton Diptych and the Absolutism of Richard II," Quidditas: Vol. 8 , Article 4. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rmmra/vol8/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Quidditas by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. JRMMRA 8 (1987) The Wilton Diptych and the Ab oluti m of Ri chard II* by umner Ferris Cali fornia n iversiLy f Pennsylvania The Wi lton DipLy h (i n The Natio nal Call ery, London) m no"', after some years of hesitation on the matter, be considered to be very probably the work of an I::nglish artist. ' Consequemly, we may take the painting to be not sim ply a ma tcrpiece of the International tyle but a specifically English masterpiece of th e age of Ri chard II, the king whom it chi efl y honors and depicts, and we may expect LO find in it a pecifically English meaning. BUL, despite its acknowledged artistic merit, the Wil ton Diptych is ti ll imperfectly understood. There are three fundamental matters to be resolved about the painting: its date, its meaning.