Golden Age- Arts and Culture

The culmination of the English Renaissance and the ‘Golden Age’ of art, literature and music

The ‘high’ culture of the well off was transformed and a vigorous popular culture developed. However, popular and elite culture were not necessarily mutually exclusive. 1 aspect of Shakespeare’s distinctive appeal was his ability to appeal both to an educated elite and to the ‘groundlings’ who attended performance in large numbers

Art
English painting, heavily influenced by Flemish models, flourished during Liz’s reign, with artists benefiting from a range of patrons. Formal portraiture remained important, with the queen a frequent sitter, as were courtiers, especially Earl of Leicester, along with sitters from the gentry and mercantile classes. Formal portraiture, however, lacked an artist as skilful as Holbein had been during the reign of Henry VIII. Instead, what became culturally the most important aspect of Elizabethan painting was the portrait miniature, whose most technically gifted exponents were Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver.
It was also a golden age in architecture. The queen was very reluctant to commission new buildings, but her courtiers and other wealthy individuals made up for this lack, often being able to afford extravagant building projects because of the family acquisition of former monastic land at knock-down prices. This period saw the emergence of the first named English architect (as opposed to formerly anonymous master masons). This was Robert Smythson, who worked on Longleat in Wiltshire and Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire as well as on a series of other country houses

Literature
The increased educational opportunities of the 16th century led to the emergence of a highly literate and often quite sophisticated viewing and reading public. The viewing public was treated to plays, not just by Shakespeare, but also by significant dramatists e.g Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe. There was an increasingly sophisticated infrastructure for the production of plays in London. Companies of actors operated under the patronage of courtiers, most importantly the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, of which Shakespeare was a member. However, the companies operated within a competitive market environment at theatres such as the Globe and the Swan. These placed an emphasis on the ability of dramatists such as Shakespeare to produce new plays on a regular basis to appeal to audiences drawn from across the social classes. Occassionally, Shakespeare’s plays had direct political connotations. The most notorious was the sponsoring at the Globe Theatre by supporters of the Earl of Essex of a performance of Richard II, a medieval king who had been the victim of usurpation in 1399. Elizabeth was alleged to have remarked: ‘I am Richard. Knowe ye not that?’

Much prose literature tended to have narrow readership. An exception was Foxe’s ‘Book of Martyrs’, which had a wide readership amongst ‘godly’ Puritans. The 2 most influential writers were Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser. Sidney saw himself as a conscious moderniser of the English language through the adaptation of classical forms. He was largely responsible for the revival of the sonnet and was therefore an essential precursor of Shakespeare in that context. Despite their courtly connections, both Sidney and Spenser were political outsiders; some of their work can be seen as being highly critical of the Elizabethan court

Music
Music flourished in a variety of forms in Elizabethan England. Elizabeth, herself a skilful musician, was responsible at the time of the settlement for saving the musical culture of English cathedrals and Oxbridge colleges which were threatened by Protestant reformers who emphasised the importance of the word of God rather than the ‘beauty of holiness’. The 2 greatest composers of the reign, Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, wrote extensively for the CofE. Each of them, however, was Catholic and Byrd, in particular, demonstrated the strength of his Catholicism in works composed in secrecy for his Catholic patrons.

Secular music making also flourished, especially at court. Renaissance convention laid down that courtiers should be skilled musically. This encouraged the development of the madrigal, a musical form which originated in Italy, as a complex part-song that could be song by a small mixed-voice choir and whose most important composers were Thomas Morley and Thomas Weelkes. Madrigals were usually non political. However, in 1601, Morley put together a collection of 25 madrigals by 23 different composers entitled ‘The triumph of Oriana’ which explicitly honoured the queen. Music was therefore a means of reinforcing the ‘Gloriana’ myth which sustained support for the queen at a time when her reputation was slipping. More intimate music was provided by John Dowland.

At a more popular level both instrumental music and song flourished. Many towns 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 ‘Watkins Ale’ is unmistakable.

Developments in the Arts and culture in Elizabethan England
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth had received a strong humanist education, had a great intellect and an interest in learning
Elizabeth spent over £1,500 a year on music
Elizabeth herself was a skilled musician. She could play several instruments, including the virginal and the lute
Elizabeth’s court was often the scene of revels, full of music and dance, which provided a stage for musicians and other performers
The Gloriana cult that grew up around Elizabeth encouraged artistic activity, especially in poetry and art

The nobility and gentry
The nobility and gentry were keen patron of the Arts, especially literature and the theatre. They were encouraged to do so partly because Elizabeth was a keen patron of the Arts herself

Intellectual ideas
The Renaissance, which began in Europe in the second half of the 15th century, promoted an interest in learning and the Arts
Humanist thought had become popular in England, with the writings of scholars such as Erasmus and More. Humanism promoted education and the Arts
The Reformation had provided an incentive for people to learn to read (e.g. production of English Bible)
The invention of the printing press at end of 15th Cen. provided a means to spread learning, and was an important catalysts for improved literacy

Education and literacy
In the century before Elizabeth a large number of grammar schools had been founded. Edward VI’s reign saw the creation of a large number of schools which bear his name
By 1558, it was generally accepted that ‘gentlemen’ were literate. By 1603, most yeomen could also read
From the early 16th century there was an increase in the number of places at Oxford and Cambridge. Cardinal Wolsey had founded Cardinal college in Oxford in the 1520s
Young men could study for a law degree at the Inns of Court in London
Increased literacy and an interest in learning led to a greater number of books being printed and kept in private libraries

Art
There were no great developments in painting, and most art was in the form of portraiture- nobles, gentry and the Queen herself sat for a multitude of commemorative portraits
The artist George Gower was created Serjeant Painter in 1581. He was responsible for approving all portraits of the Queen until his death in 1596
Marcus Gheerhaerts the Younger painted portraits of Elizabeth and a number of other courtiers, including Sir Francis Drake, Lord Burghley and the Earl of Essex
Nicholas Hilliard was a master of portrait miniatures. He painted the Queen and many courtiers, and even re-designed the royal seal. His most famous portrait, Young Man among Roses, might have been of the Earl of Essex.

Literature
Edmund Spencer’s The Faerie Queen is an example of the quality of Elizabethan poetry. It is also an example of how literature was used to support the Gloriana cult.
Sir Philip Sydney was the nephew of Robert Dudley; he married Frances; daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham. He was a courtier, soldier and poet, who was largely responsible for the revival of the sonnet in English poetry
Around 5,000 books survive from the late 15th Century to 1557, from 1580-1603 alone there are around 4,300 books still in existence.
Many of the books published reflected the humanist background of the Renaissance. English writers referred to Greek and Roman authors and to publications from Italy. Many works by Classical scholars were translated (e.g. Plato, Aristotle and Tacitus)

Music
Because of Elizabeth’s personal preferences, the CofE after the Act of Settlement included elements that were more Catholic, e.g. music
Thomas Tallis received royal patronage. He wrote music in English and Latin for the Chapel Royal
William Byrd was a musician for the Chapel Royal. He was a Catholic, but that was overlooked because of his skill, courtly patronage, and his willingness to write music for CofE
John Dowland was a musician whose speciality was writing sons for solo voice accompanied by a lute. Many of his songs were on the theme of melancholia- a fashionable theme because of the link, made in the Renaissance, between melancholia and artistic pretentions
Court revels included plays and masques. The masques were often staged using themes that enhanced the queen’s image
1601- composer Thomas Morley put together a collection of 25 madrigals by 23 different composers. It was called The Triumph of Oriana and explicitly honoured the Queen-a means of reinforcing the Gloriana cult.

Architecture and Building
Elizabeth was not a great builder as her father and grandfather had been. She was careful with her spending and tended only to make alterations and improvements to existing palaces
The rise of the gentry saw a glut of building, as people used the wealth they had gained (especially through acquiring cheap land from Dissolution of Monasteries) to build fine country houses in a distinctive style
Courtier buildings including William Cecil, Lord Burghley (Burghley House and Hatfield House), Sir Christopher Hatton (Holdenby House and Kirby Hall) and Earl of Pembroke (Wilton House). Robert Dudley built extensive new apartments at Kenilworth Castle to be ready for the Queen’s visit.
Elizabeth’s reign saw the emergence of the first named English architect, Robert Smythson. He worked on the great houses of Longleat in Wiltshire and Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire, as well as many other country houses

Theatre
Theatre became popular form of entertainment, particularly from the 1570s. Many theatres were built, e.g. Globe in 1599 and Fortune in 1600.
Elizabeth had her own company of actors, The Queen’s Players
Robert Dudley has his own company of actors, and he would pay them to perform before the Queen.
A number of great playwrights became famous, e.g. William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe
Shakespeare was a member of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. They performed Twelfth Night at court, and Shakespeare might have written The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Queen’s request
In the 1590s the Puritans waged a propaganda war against the evils of the London theatres. Elizabeth’s support of the theatre was therefore important