Elizabeth - Golden Age of Art, Literature and Music

What was the situation with Art during the Reign

- Formal portraiture remained important, although Elizabeth lacked an artist as gifted as Holbein during H8's reign.

- Portrait miniature became the most important aspect of Elizabethan art, most technically gift exponents were Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver.

- Elizabeth reluctant to commission new buildings, her courtiers made up for this lack, such as Burghley (Burghley House in Northamptonshire and Hatfield House in Hertfordshire), Sir Christopher Hatton (Holdenby House and Kirby House, Northamptonshire), Earl of Pembroke (Wilton House in Wiltshire.

- Emergence of the first named English architect, Robert Smythson. He worked on Longleat in Wiltshire and Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire, as well as other country houses.

What was the situation with Literature during the reign?

- Increased educational opportunities of 16th century led to the emergence of a more educated population.

- Public treated to plays by Shakespeare, Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe.

- Plays appealed to variety of social class.

- Companies of actors operated under the patronage of courtiers, most importantly the Lord Chamberlain's Men, of which Shakespeare was a member.

- But, the Companies operated within a competitive market environment at theatres such as the Globe and the Swan.

- Most infamous sponsoring of a play was Earl of Essex sponsoring Shakespeare's 'Richard II'.

- Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs' had a wide readership amongst 'Godly' Puritans.

- Two most influential writers of Elizabeth's reign - Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spencer. Both had works highly critical of Elizabethan Court.

What was the situation with Music during the reign? (1)

- Elizabeth was responsible for saving the music culture of English Cathedrals & Oxbridge colleges, threatened by Protestants who emphasised the importance of the world of God, rather than the 'beauty of holiness'.

- Two greatest composers of the reign, Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, both wrote extensively for the Church of England.

- Byrd in particular demonstrated the strength of his Catholicism in works composed in secrecy for his Catholic Patrons.

What was the situation with Music during the reign? (2)

- Renaissance influences music rose in prominence, development of the madrigal.

- Madrigals usually non-political, however in 1601, Thomas Morley published a collection of 35 composers by 23 different composers, titled 'The Triumph of Oriana', explicitly honoured the Queen.

- Many town had official bands ('waits') who performed on formal occasions and who presumably performed informally on other occasions.

- Broadside ballads, songs printed cheaply on a single sheet of paper, became popular.

- Often these were extremely bawdy; the innuendo in a popular song such as Watkin's Ale is unmistakable.