The English Landscapes in the Seventeenth Century
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Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 5-18-2018 1:00 PM The English Landscapes in the Seventeenth Century Helen Parkinson The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Hatch, John The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Visual Arts A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Helen Parkinson 2018 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Fine Arts Commons Recommended Citation Parkinson, Helen, "The English Landscapes in the Seventeenth Century" (2018). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 5388. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/5388 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract Relatively few critical studies have been written concerning the English landscape genre in the seventeenth century, not due to a lack of production or interest in the genre, but rather as a result of an anachronistic definition that is the product of eighteenth century artistic discourse. In contrast, I explore landscape as it was defined in contemporaneous seventeenth-century works and literature. Rather than a singular definition, I propose that the genre in the seventeenth century was marked by multiple iterations, each of which corresponded to shifting perceptions concerning the role of land in the culture, economy and politics of England. As such, the iterations explored herein range from the highly symbolic to the topographic, the ideal and combinations of the three, each representing different aspects of the discursive relationship to the English land over the century. Much like the English language, the landscapes of this period incorporated not only native traditions and values but also translated established variations of the genre from Northern and Southern European artistic discourses into the English context. Given the iterability of the genre, I explore landscape within a pre-determined set of limits: temporal (late sixteenth to late seventeenth century), geographic (England), thematic (symbolic, topographic, ideal and estate landscapes) and formal (painting, drawing and printmaking). Unlike other explorations of the English landscape that apply strict, often anachronistic definitions of the genre, I explore landscape from a broad perspective, one that not only seeks out the aesthetic frameworks that shaped it, but the economic, social and political discourses that gave the genre significance in the period. i Keywords Landscape, England, Seventeenth-Century, Estate Landscape, Ideal Landscape, Pastoral, Topography, Chorography, Genre, ii Acknowledgments I would like to begin by thanking Professor Madeline Lennon whose enthusiasm and support drew me from contemporary art and critical theory back though time to the seventeenth century. It was while taking her graduate seminar on the Baroque that I first began to explore seventeenth-century English art. Her feedback on my initial research was an invaluable inspiration for this dissertation. I would also like to acknowledge the good humor, patience and support of Professor John Hatch who helped guide me through this arduous process with a smile. He provided invaluable advice at all stages of development and his help in the final editing process has been indispensable. On a personal note, many thanks go out to my family and friends who have been incredibly supportive of this academic marathon, especially my parents, Valerie and Keith Parkinson and my husband David Brown. iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. iiv List of Figures .................................................................................................................. vii List of Appendices………………………………………………………………………x Introduction: The English Landscape(s) in the Seventeenth Century: Perspectives on the Iterability of the Genre ................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: The Symbolic Landscapes of Elizabethan and Early Stuart England………..25 1.1 The Particularity of the Art World in Early Modern England…………….…26 1.2 Landscape as Parerga…………………………………………………….…..34 1.3 Seasonals …………………………………………………………………….44 1.4 Kermis………………………………………………………………………..54 1.5 Conclusions……………………………………………………………….….64 Chapter 2: Drawn from Life: Empiricism and Civic Landscape in the Seventeenth Century ………………………………………………………………………………….……..65 2.1 An Empirical Perspective ………………………………………………..…..66 2.2 Civitates Orbis Terrarum and its Influence upon the English Scene...………82 2.3 Antiquarian Interest ………………………………………………………….95 2.4 Intersections of Civic Pride and Industry …………………………………..107 2.5 Conclusions ……………………………………………………………………115 Chapter 3: Ut Pictura Poèsis and the Ideal Landscape of the Seventeenth Century …..…117 iv 3.1 The Renaissance of Classical Art in England …………………………………118 3.2 Ut Pictura Poèsis and the Imaginative Landscape ……………………………134 3.3 The Ideal Landscape …………………………………………………………..136 3.4 Conclusions …………………………………………………………………….150 Chapter 4: A Prospect Befitting a Gentleman: Estate Landscape in the Seventeenth Century…………………………………………………………………………………….152 4.1 A Survey of the Country Estate ………………………………………………153 4.2 Social Prospects ……………………………………………………………....171 4.3 Political Perspectives …………………………………………………………187 4.4 Conclusions …………………………………………………………………..198 Conclusion: Towards New Horizons in the Study of the English Landscape ……………199 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………209 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………..251 Curriculum Vitae………………………………………………………………………..…252 v List of Plates Plate 1. Nicholas Hilliard, George Clifford, Third Earl of Cumberland. 1590. Watercolour, gold and silver leaf; on vellum, laid on fruitwood panel. 258 x 176 mm. National Maritime Museum, F6479-001 ............................................................................................................... 39 Plate 2. Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. Elizabeth I. c. 1592. Oil on canvas, 2413 mm x 1524 mm. National Portrait Gallery, NPG 2561.................................................................... 43 Plate 3. Pieter van der Heyden, after Bieter Bruegel the Elder. Aestas – Summer from The Four Seasons. 1570. Engraving, published by Hieronymus Cock. The British Museum. F.1.24 ...................................................................................................................................... 47 Plate 4. English School. June from The Shepheardes Calendar by Edmund Spencer, 1579. Woodcut. Private Collection. ................................................................................................. 49 Plate 5. Francis Wouters. Landscape with a Rainbow. c. 1634. Oil on Panel. 35.9 x 50.7cm. Royal Collection, Hampton Court Palace, RCIN 404735. ...................................... 51 Plate 6. Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The Wedding Dance. c. 1566. Oil on Wood Panel. 119.4 x 157.5cm. Detroit Institute of Arts. City of Detroit Purchase. 30.374. .............................. 56 Plate 7. Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, previously attributed to Joris Hoefnagel. A Fête at Bermondsey. c. 1570. Oil on Panel. 74 x 99cm. Hatfeild House, Hertfordshire, UK. ........ 58 Plate 8. Anthonis van den Wyngaerde. Richmond Palace from Across the Thames. 1562, pen, ink and watercolour on paper. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University. AMO 150843. ................................................................................................................................................. 78 Plate 9. Joris Hoefnagel, Map of London from Civitates Orbis Terrarum by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenburg. c. 1572. Hand-coloured engraving. Glasgow University Library, Scotland................................................................................................................................... 90 Plate 10. Joris Hoefnagel. Vindesorium (Windsor) from Civitates Orbis Terrarum by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenburg. 1575. Etching with hand-colour and letterpress on the verso. 182mm x 487mm. British Museum Y, 5.169, AN 440335001.............................................. 91 vi Plate 11. English School. April from The Shepheardes Calendar by Edmund Spencer, 1579. Private Collection (available from Bridgeman images ........................................................... 93 Plate 12. The Master of Flying Storks. The Thames at Richmond, with the Old Royal Palace. c. 1620. Oil on Canvas. 152.1 x 304.2 cm. Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. Object number 61, record id 1388. ......................................................................................... 98 Plate 13. Wenceslaus Hollar, Windsor Castle, Berkshire. 1659. Etching. 30 x 37cm. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, P1072. ........................................................................................ 103 Figure 14. David Loggan. Prospectus Cantabrigiae Orientalis (The Prospect of Cambridge from the East) and Prospectus Cantabrigiae