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England under the volatile Tudor dynasty was a thriving home for the arts. An international community of artists and merchants, many of them religious refugees, navigated the high-stakes demands of royal patrons, including England’s first two reigning queens. Against the backdrop of shifting political relationships with mainland Europe, Tudor artistic patronage legitimized, promoted, and stabilized a series of tumultuous reigns, from Henry VII’s seizure of the throne in 1485 to the death of his granddaughter Elizabeth I in 1603. The Tudor courts were truly cosmopolitan, boasting the work of Florentine sculptors, German painters, Flemish weavers, and Europe’s best armorers, goldsmiths, and printers, while also contributing to the emergence of a distinctly English style.
Join Elizabeth Cleland, Curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, and Adam Eaker, Associate Curator in the Department of European Paintings, to explore The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England, which traces the transformation of the arts in Tudor England through more than 100 objects—including iconic portraits, spectacular tapestries, manuscripts, sculpture, and armor—from both The Met collection and international lenders.
The exhibition is made possible by Alice Cary Brown and W.L. Lyons Brown, Frank Richardson and Kimba Wood, Barbara A. Wolfe, the Diane Carol Brandt Fund, The Coby Foundation, Ltd., The Klesch Collection, Ann M. Spruill and Daniel H. Cantwell, and Sharon Wee and Tracy Fu.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
It is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cleveland Museum of Art, in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
The catalogue is made possible by the Diane W. and James. E. Burke Fund.
Additional support is provided by the Hata International Foundation and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
The catalogue is available for purchase at store.metmuseum.org.
Questions? Contact us by email or by phone at 212-570-3755.
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Image: Quentin Metsys the Younger. Elizabeth I of England (“The Sieve Portrait”) (detail), 1583. Oil on canvas. Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena. By permission of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. Polo museale della Toscana. Photo Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena
