English art and architecture

The RenaissanceEnglish design tends to be far more complicated then its Italian and
French counterparts lacking the clear lines of demarcation they exhibit. Styles
overlap each other and/or continue to develop side by side. The 22 miles of the
English channel and Englands natural conservatism act as a wall to continental
influence so that when the Renaissance finally arrives in England it is as the fully
developed style (as seen in the work of Inigo Jones) without a transitional period.
The "law of primogeniture" in which the estate goes to the first born son prevents
the break up of the great estates and lessens the need to develop new styles.
Renaissance style characteristics are for the most part simply overlaid on English
Gothic forms to produce a form completely English. This is a period marked by
increasing trade and commerce, the rise of the middle class and corresponding
decrease in feudal power , the break with the Catholic Church and the growth of the
English colonies in the Americas. It is also a period in which religious warfare and
conflict between the King and the new upper classes ultimately lead to civil war and
an England in which design will follow a separate path then that of the French lead
continent.
Tudor: Primarily English Gothic with a few Renaissance elements. Outward look
away from central courtyard. Large windows made up of a number of small panes,
lack of symmetry and order , few classical elements and remnants of Gothic/Castle
design. Middle class domestic houses remain half timber with thatched roofs be the
most common form.
Elizabethan: Greater reliance on classical elements and Mannerist concepts.
Horizontal emphasis, regularity, larger scale but still highly individualistic in
appearance. Growing importance of the staircase, Bay and Oriel windows and
concept of comfort.
Jacobean: Simplification with greater unity, classical vocabulary used as decoration
only.
http://www3.canyons.edu/Departments/INTD/Faculty/Kavesh/ID
%20114/114%20Reading%20Assignments/11.%20english_renaissance.htm
The transition from Gothic to a classic Renaissance style was slow in England.
Religious art of every kind had declined drastically by 1540, with the dissolution of
the monasteries and the break with Rome. John Thynne and Robert Smythson were
major builders of the 16th cent. at a time when secular art and architecture began
to assume greater importance. Manor houses and palaces were designed for greater
comfort than in previous eras and were often arranged according to a symmetrical
plan, facing outward toward a splendid garden. Attention was paid to the paneling
and stucco adornment of interiors. English builders inconsistently adapted Italian
designs, particularly the published works of Sebastiano Serlio.

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/entertainment/english-artarchitecture.html

Tudor style,

Tudor style type of British architecture, mainly domestic, that grafted

Renaissance decorative elements onto the Perpendicular Gothic style
between 1485 and 1558. The Tudor style in architecture coincides with the
first part of the reign of the Tudor monarchs, which commenced in 1485 with
the accession of Henry VII to the throne and ended with the death of
Elizabeth I The characteristic exterior features of the Tudor style as used in
secular architecture are: a lavish use of half-timber work; large groups of
rectangular windows; rich oriel, or bay, windows; complex roofs with many
gables; interesting and sometimes fantastic chimney treatments; and much
brickwork, frequently in patterns. The interiors of secular buildings featured
richly wood-paneled walls and the lavish use of molded plasterwork to
decorate ceilings, cornices, and walls, frequently in a naive imitation of
Renaissance ornamental motifs.
http://www.britannica.com/art/Tudor-style
The Perpendicular style had already broken away from the European mainstream of
late Gothic. In Tudor times it developed fan vaulting, for example in the cloisters at
Gloucester Cathedral and Henry VII's magnificent Lady Chapel at Westminster
Abbey. The characteristic Tudor depressed arch can be seen in both ecclesiastical
and secular buildings.
http://www.buildinghistory.org/style/tudor.shtml

The Elizabethan Style

The Elizabethan style prevailed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Renaissance motifs were mixed with Flemish decorative work, such as strapwork,
and late-Gothic mullioned and transomed windows
The Elizabethan style is more symmetrical than earlier architecture. Elizabethan
mansions usually had numerous towers, gables, parapets, balustrades, and
chimneystacks. Pavillions, gardens, fountains, and terraces were also popular.
http://www.nicholls.edu/art-dhc/jacobeanarchitecture.html

Jacobean Architecture

1603-25The Jacobean style dates from the period of King James I and James VI, at
the beginning of the 17th century. Although Inigo Jones introduced Palladian
Classicism during the period, Jacobean architecture combined French, Italian, and
Flemish elements. The Jacobean style, along with Roman classical forms, survived
under the Stuarts (1625-1702).

Stuart Architecture (1603-1714)

Shell-headed doorway of Tailors Almshouse, Bristol, 1701Under the Stuart kings

British architecture took a pick-and-mix approach to Continental influences.
Fashions from France, Italy and the Netherlands could be blended in a single
building, or Dutchgables on one house could stare across like lifted eyebrows at the
Palladian parapet of a neighbour.
http://www.buildinghistory.org/style/stuart.shtml

Important architects
Pietro Torrigiano

Torrigiano, Pietro (pytr tr-rjn) [key], 14721528, Florentine Renaissance

sculptor. Upon leaving Florence in 1492, he worked in Rome and small Italian cities
until his departure for the Netherlands, where he worked for the court. By 1511 he
was in England, where his gilt bronze masterpiece, the tomb of King Henry VII and
his queen, is preserved in Westminster Abbey. In Spain from c.1522, he executed
the fine terra-cotta statues of St. Jerome and the Virgin and Child (both: Seville
Mus.). Two male portrait busts in the Metropolitan Museum exemplify his firmly
modeled, refined, and dignified style. Torrigiano is said to have broken
Michelangelo's nose in a quarrel when they were fellow students.
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/torrigiano-pietro.html

Inigo Jones

The first and greatest of English Renaissance architects, Inigo Jones was an
unlikely candidate to change the landscape of British style and design. Yet
this self-taught son of a Smithfield clothmaker had an enormous effect on the
course of British art and architecture.
Inigo Jones, (born July 15, 1573, Smithfield, London, Eng.died June 21,
1652, London), British painter, architect, and designer who founded the
English classical tradition of architecture. The Queens House (161619) at
Greenwich, London, his first major work, became a part of the National
Maritime Museum in 1937. His greatest achievement is the Banqueting
House (161922) at Whitehall. Joness only other surviving royal building is
the Queens Chapel (162327) at St. Jamess Palace.
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Inigo-Jones

Sir Christopher Wren (1632 - 1723)

Wren was an English scientist and mathematician and one of Britain's most
distinguished architects, best known for the design of many London
churches, including St Paul's Cathedral. In 1666, the Great Fire of London
destroyed much of the medieval city, providing a huge opportunity for Wren.
He produced ambitious plans for rebuilding the whole area but they were
rejected, partly because property owners insisted on keeping the sites of
their destroyed buildings. Wren did design 51 new city churches, as well as
the new St Paul's Cathedral. In 1669, he was appointed surveyor of the royal
works which effectively gave him control of all government building in the
country. He was knighted in 1673.

Sir John Vanbrugh

Vanbrugh is thought to have had no formal training in architecture. His

inexperience was compensated for by his unerring eye for perspective and
detail and his close working relationship with Nicholas Hawksmoor.
Hawksmoor, a former clerk of Sir Christopher Wren, was to be Vanbrugh's
collaborator in many of his most ambitious projects.

Nicholas Hawksmoor

Young Nicholas was a quick study, and he readily absorbed the skills of his
master. From 1684 on Hawksmoor worked with Wren on all his major
architectural projects, including Chelsea Hospital, the rebuilding of the
London churches damaged in the great Fire of London, St. Paul's Cathedral,
Hampton Court Palace, and Greenwich Hospital.
Notable examples
st paul's cathedral

The present Cathedral, the masterpiece of Britain's most famous architect Sir
Christopher Wren, is at least the fourth to have stood on the site. It was built
between 1675 and 1710, after its predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of
London, and services began in 1697.

https://www.stpauls.co.uk/history-collections/history
Delve into the history of the magnificent Banqueting House. Designed by
renowned architect Inigo Jones it is the only surviving building from the old
Whitehall Palace.

The Banqueting House, Whitehall, London, is the grandest and best

known survivor of the architectural genre of banqueting house, and the only
remaining component of the Palace of Whitehall. The building is important in
the history of English architecture as the first building to be completed in the
neo-classical style which was to transform English architecture.[1]

The Queen's House, Greenwich, is a former royal residence built

between 16161619 in Greenwich, then a few miles downriver from London,
and now a district of the city. Its architect was Inigo Jones, for whom it was a
crucial early commission, for Anne of Denmark, the queen of King James I of
England. It was altered and completed by Jones, in a second campaign about
1635 for Henrietta Maria, queen of King Charles I.[1] The Queen's House is
one of the most important buildings in British architectural history, being the
first consciously classical building to have been constructed in Britain. It was
Jones's first major commission after returning from his 16131615 grand
tour[2] of Roman, Renaissance and Palladian architecture in Italy.