Quick viewing(Text Mode)

Contextual Information Timelines and Family Trees Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits 16 March – 14 July 2019

Contextual Information Timelines and Family Trees Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits 16 March – 14 July 2019

16 — 14 July 2019

British Royal Portraits

Exhibition organised by the National Portrait Gallery,

Contextual Information Timelines and Family Trees Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits 16 March – 14 July 2019

Tudors to Windsors traces the history of the British through the outstanding collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London. This exhibition highlights major events in British (and world) history from the sixteenth century to the present, examining the ways in which royal portraits were impacted by both the personalities of individual monarchs and wider historical change. Presenting some of the most significant royal portraits, the exhibition will explore five royal : the Tudors, the Stuarts, the Georgians, the Victorians and shedding light on key figures and important historical moments. This exhibition also offers insight into the development of British art including works by the most important artists to have worked in Britain, from Lely and Sir Godfrey Kneller to and .

2 UK WORLDWIDE 1485 Henry Tudor defeats Richard III at the , becoming Henry VII The Tudors and founding the Tudor 1492 An expedition led by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus encounters the Americas 1509 while searching for a Western passage to Asia Henry VII dies and is succeeded Introduction by King Henry VIII 1510 The Inca abandon the settlement of Machu Picchu in modern day Peru Between 1485 and 1603, was ruled by 1517 nails his 95 theses to the five Tudor monarchs. From King Henry VII who won the door of the Church in Wittenberg, in battle, to King Henry VIII with his six wives and a catalyst for the Protestant Reformation 1519 , England’s ‘Virgin Queen’, the Tudors are some Hernando Cortes lands on of the most familiar figures in British history. The Tudor the coast of modern Mexico 1526 period was an era of great change which saw the birth Beginning of the Mughal , of the Protestant religion and the emergence of England c.1530 The in as a major European power. By the death of Elizabeth I 1534 reaches its greatest extent The Act of Supremacy King Henry VIII in 1603, the foundations of the had been as head of the 1543 Nicholas Copernicus publishes his claim laid in America and the age of Shakespeare had begun, 1547 that the earth moves around Henry VIII dies and is succeeded sparking a dazzling literary renaissance. by King Edward VI 1553 The birth of the coincided with the beginning Edward VI dies and is succeeded by Queen Mary I following a failed attempt of portrait painting in England. This saw the development to claim the for Jane Grey of a distinct English in the visual arts and English artists 1558 Mary I dies and is succeeded were leaders in the field of miniature painting. Portraiture by Queen Elizabeth I offered new opportunities for royals to consolidate their 1564 is born 1572 power through visual imagery. The most successful of these French Protestants are massacred on St Bartholomew’s Day in Paris images convey the splendour and of their subjects 1585 alongside a sense of deep psychological insight. Images of English colonists establish the settlement of Roanoke off the coast of present-day Tudor and queens served to cement their reputations, North Carolina; by 1590 all trace of the 1587 colonists has disappeared providing centuries of viewers with the impression of Execution of Mary Queen of Scots 1588 personal encounters with the of monarchy. Destruction of the Spanish Armada, a fleet of ships send to invade England 1603 Death of Elizabeth I: the end of the Tudor dynasty

3 4 UK WORLDWIDE 1603 King James VI of succeeds Elizabeth I, becoming King James I of England The Stuarts 1605 1606 The discovery of the ‘’ The Dutch ship, the Druyfken is the first European to assassinate the vessel to reach the Australian coast Introduction 1607 Establishment of Jamestown in the of Virginia 1616 William Shakespeare dies 1620 The Tudor dynasty came to an end in 1603 with The English ship the Mayflower lands at 1625 Plymouth Rock in modern Massachusetts the death of Elizabeth I. passed to her James I dies and is succeeded by King Charles I 1626 cousin, James Stuart. Already ruling as James VI 1629 The Dutch purchase Manhattan (New Amsterdam) Charles I dissolves and begins 11 years of personal rule of Scotland, he now became James I of England from local Native Americans 1632 in addition to his Scottish . James and his Painter Anthony van Dyck arrives in England descendants, the Stuart dynasty, ruled Britain 1642 1642 Beginning of the English civil wars Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman is the first recorded European to for over a century. A time of great upheaval, this sight Van Diemen’s Land (today’s ) and period saw the execution of a king and Britain’s 1649 1644 Charles I is executed The comes to power in China; only period of republican rule, which began in 1649. the Chinese empire is at its greatest extent 1653 The monarchy was restored in 1660, to much becomes Protector of England, Scotland and rejoicing. However, the ‘’ of 1658 1688-9 placed new limits on royal power, a change Oliver Cromwell dies; his son becomes that transformed the very nature of kingship. 1660 The of the monarchy: Charles II claims the throne 1664 The of art during the 1666 New Amsterdam is renamed New The destroys two-thirds of the following seizure by the English was dominated by the activities of King Charles I 1685 1681 Charles II dies and is succeeded by King James II Charles II grants William Penn a charter to found and a number of important courtiers, who brought a ‘proprietary colony’ on the North American continent, leading continental artists, including Van Dyck and 1688–1689 leading to the founding of Pennsylvania The ‘Glorious Revolution’ ousts Roman Catholic James II Rubens, to Britain. The works they produced, and and places William III and Queen Mary on the throne the collections of old master paintings amassed 1689 Passing of the ‘Bill of ’ which limits royal power 1692–1693 during this time, had a lasting impact on art both 1701 Salem Witch Trials in Massachussetts in the court and beyond, throughout the rest Passing of Act of Settlement, ensuring a Protestant succession 1702 of the century. William III dies and is succeeded by Queen Anne 1707 The Act of Union between England and Scotland creates 1714 Queen Anne dies: the end of the Stuart dynasty

5 6 UK WORLDWIDE 1714 George, Elector of , is proclaimed King of Great Britain 1715 The Georgians Jacobite uprisings attempt to restore James Stuart (James II) to the throne but are defeated Introduction 1718 British convicts start being transported to penal overseas In 1714, Britain faced a crisis when Queen Anne 1727 died without an heir. To guarantee Britain’s George I dies and is succeeded by George II 1732 1746 James Oglethorpe granted a charter to establish and the Protestant the British colony of in America Final defeat of the Jacobites at the battle of Culloden succession to the throne, Parliament invited 1752 Benjamin Franklin’s Kite experiment proves George of Hanover, the great grandson of James I, 1760 that lightning is a form of electricity George II dies and is succeeded by George III to become king and this began the Hanoverian rule 1765 British Parliament passes the Stamp Act; colonists of Britain. Many in favour of the Catholic Stuarts, with cries of ‘No taxation without representation!’ who had been ousted in 1688, agitated for their 1768–1771 Captain James Cook leads his first expedition to restoration and supported the Jacobite uprisings the Pacific and charts the east coast of of 1715 and 1745. 1775 Beginning of the American War of Independence The age of the Georgians is known for the birth 1776 The ‘’ in America declare of industrialisation, vast expansion of the British their independence from Britain Empire and emerging consumerism. This was an 1783 1783 Britain signs the Treaty of Paris, The end of the American War of Independence era of artistic and architectural elegance, as well officially recognising American independence. 1787 as biting caricatures which satirised monarchs The First Fleet of convict ships sets sail from , 1788–1789 England, bound for Botany Bay, Australia and leading politicians. George III is temporarily incapacitated by mental illness 1789 The storming of the Bastille in Paris marks the beginning of the ; In 1768 the Royal Academy of Arts was established George Washington is elected with Sir Joshua Reynolds as its first President. first President of the United States 1791 By the second half of the eighteenth century, the The Bill of Rights of the United States of America domination of painting by foreign artists was a comes into effect 1793 thing of the past and British artists such as Allan King Louis XVI of is executed by Republicans Ramsay, Thomas Gainsborough, George Romney 1801 An Act of Union dissolves the Irish Parliament, and George Stubbs were in the ascendancy. creating the of Great Britain and Ireland CONTINUED

UK WORLDWIDE 1805 The British Navy defeat the French at Trafalgar 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade Act bans the slave trade in the British colonies 1808 US Congress the African slave trade 1811 George III suffers a second bout of mental illness; Parliament passes the Regency Act, allowing the of to rule in his stead 1815 The British defeat at the Battle of Waterloo 1820 George III dies and is succeeded by King George IV 1822 The American Colonisation Society founds a colony in Africa for freed American slaves, later Liberia 1830 1830 George IV dies and is succeeded by King William IV The Indian Removal Act is passed, leading to forced evacuations and the deaths of thousands 1833 of Native Americans, known as the Great Removal Abolition of across the British empire 1836 is settled by the British 1837 and Adelaide is established as its capital William IV dies: the end of the Hanoverian dynasty

8 9 UK WORLDWIDE 1837 is crowned Queen of Great Britain 1838 Publication of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens 1839 The Victorians Frenchman Louis Daguerre announces the first publicly-available photographic 1840 process, the daguerreotype marries Prince Albert Introduction of Saxe- and Gotha 1845–1850 1846–1848 Queen Victoria was only eighteen years old when she Irish Potato Famine Mexican-American War: the USA gains Mexican territories including California and Texas ascended to the throne in 1837, following the death of her 1850s uncle William IV. Victoria’s sixty-three year was to Australian gold rushes be longer than that of any of her predecessors. Victoria, 1856 1858 Australia becomes first however, was a queen who reigned rather than ruled. India comes under direct control to use secret ballots for of the British government By this stage the did not wield significant 1859 political power but served as a for the nation. Publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

The major developments in science, technology and 1861 1861 Queen Victoria’s husband, Beginning of the American Civil War Prince Albert, dies aged 42 philosophy that occurred during Victoria’s reign continue 1865 to shape the way we live today. These included the End of the American Civil War, slavery is abolished in the USA, 1868 President Lincoln is assassinated development of anaesthetics and germ theory, Charles Britain ends penal transportation to Australia Darwin’s theory of evolution and the discovery of radio 1876 1876 Queen Victoria is declared Empress of India Alexander Graham Bell patents waves. Under Queen Victoria, the British Empire became the first telephone in the USA a global power, with colonial rule in and Australia 1881–1884 Anti-Jewish pogroms spread throughout extending to India, Malaya and . and Eastern Europe, prompting a significant 1887 wave of Jewish emigration to America Queen Victoria’s celebrates In royal portraiture, artists attempted to reconcile the fiftieth anniversary of her accession 1896 1897 The first modern Olympic games the contradictory realities of the queen’s public power Queen Victoria’s celebrates takes place in Athens, Greece the sixtieth anniversary of her accession with traditional womanly virtues. Developments in print 1901 1901 technology fuelled public demand for images of the royal Queen Victoria dies and is succeeded The Australian states are unified into a single by King Edward VII country, the of Australia family. The commercial availability of photography from 1903 the 1860s revolutionised the practice of portraiture. Victoria Wilbur and Orville Wright make the first successful flights with a powered aircraft and Albert embraced the medium. Photographic images 1910 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina Edward VII dies and is succeeded by King of royals were constantly reproduced, transforming the 1911 1912 The city of is founded The sinking of the Titanic public perception of the royal family. and designated as Australia’s capital

10 11 UK WORLDWIDE 1914 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, sparking the First World War The Windsors 1917 1917 The royal family change their The Bolshevik Revolution, led by Vladimir Lenin, from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor installs a Communist government in Russia Introduction in response to anti-German sentiment 1918 1918 Representation of the People Act grants End of the First World War The came into being during the First the vote to women over the age of 30 1920 World War, when George V changed the Royal Family’s The Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the right to vote, is ratified in the USA official name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. This royal house 1926 has reigned over a period of unprecedented change, The Balfour Declaration of 1926 recognises the equal autonomy of Australia, New Zealand, weathering two world wars and radical transformations , Canada and the 1928 with the UK in technology and social mores. Women over 21 receive the vote; Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin 1929 The Wall Street stock market crash in Edward VIII’s affair with the American divorcee New York prompts the Great Depression 1933 Simpson and subsequent in 1936 rocked the of 1936 as Chancellor of establishment. Shortly after George VI’s accession, the George V dies and is succeeded by Edward VIII; Second World War broke out and the king and queen Edward VIII abdicates the throne and is succeeded by George VI 1939 attracted widespread admiration for remaining in central Outbreak of the Second World War 1940 London during . Queen Elizabeth II inherited the Churchill becomes Prime 1945 throne in 1952, aged only twenty-five. Her portraits reveal End of the Second World War 1947 the varied facets of modern monarchy, from movie star India gains independence from Britain; glamour to timeless duty and motherhood. Her Beginning of the Cold War between 1952 the Western allies and the Soviet Union George VI dies and is succeeded descendants have grown up in the glare of the world’s by Queen Elizabeth II media spotlight as royal celebrities. 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick publish their discovery of the structure of DNA 1962 Elizabeth II’s reign is the longest of any British monarch. All Indigenous peoples in Australia receive the right to vote; Today, her work as is supported by a new The Cuban Missile Crisis generation, including William of Cambridge, 1963 President John F. Kennedy is assassinated Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Harry 1965 in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald First Race Relations Act and Meghan Duchess of Sussex. They have become addresses racial discrimination recognised as ambassadors for the UK and the charities 1967 Abortion and homosexuality are they support worldwide. legalised under certain conditions

12 CONTINUED

UK WORLDWIDE 1968 US Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr is assassinated 1969 1978 First Moon landing by the USA The first baby conceived by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is born at Oldham General Hospital, 1979 becomes Britain’s first female Prime Minister 1985 Custodianship of Uluru is transferred back to its Anangu Traditional Owners 1986 The Australia Act makes Australian law fully independent of the British parliament 1989 and legal system Tim Berners Lee invents the World Wide Web 1991 Fall of the Berlin Wall marks beginning 1997 of the collapse of the Soviet Union , of Wales, dies in a car accident in Paris 1999 Australia votes in a referendum to remain a Commonwealth country with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state 2001 Terrorists attack the World Trade Center in New York City and Pentagon in Washington, D.C., resulting in almost 3,000 deaths 2008 issues formal apology for historic wrongs committed against the Indigenous populations; is elected the first African-American President of the USA 2010 becomes the first female 2013 Prime Minister of Australia Legalisation of same-sex marriage in England and Wales, followed by Scotland in 2014 2015 2015 Elizabeth II becomes the longest-reigning The United States Supreme Court British monarch, surpassing her legalises same-sex marriage great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria 2016 The UK votes in a referendum 2017 to leave the The Australian Parliament legalises same-sex marriage

13 14

Top View