Social mobility in the early modern period has attracted much attention both from contemporary commentators and from academics in the present day, and visual display of the characteristics associated with the elite was one of the acknowledged means of social advancement. Decoration and material objects within the home provided opportunities for such display, and the rapid growth in popularity of portraits during this period can be seen as a manifestation of this. Included in this phenomenon must be the work of provincial craftsmen/painters producing rather crude examples compared to their metropolitan, elite counterparts. As with other aspects of the visual environment, there is much more to this portraiture than mere emulation of social superiors, and we need to be alert to the messages they contain.
Robert Tittler tackles this much neglected subject, arguing that it is a crucial element in English history. He shows us how the way sitters chose to have themselves portrayed communicates their self-image, telling us what they felt important about their lives, their achievements, status, and beliefs. He has teased out a huge amount of information from the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, messages contained in these portraits through color, dress, texts, and the objects depicted with the sitter.
Tittler's thoroughly researched and well-referenced book is both scholarly and readily accessible to anyone interested in the early modern period. It examines the growing demand for portrait painting in the latter part of the sixteenth century and the early seventeenth century in relation to its social and cultural context. While we are familiar with the Tudor and Stuart portraits of the nobility conveying messages of status, achievements, and beliefs, here Tittler presents evidence of an astonishing number of provincial vernacular portraits. He reckons maybe as many as ten thousand might have been in existence by 1640. While these share some of the characteristics of elite portraits, inevitably the story is much more complex. It was not just aspiring householders who had their portraits painted. Examples of civic and institutional portraits are examined as well as those of professionals, yeomen, and women.
Tittler suggests that the growing affinity for portraits in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries is part of a bigger story about the emergence of a “public,” a “collectivity of people who come, in a voluntary, unregulated and uncredentialized manner, to share an active affinity for a common interest” (8), in this case, portraiture. Who were these people, and how and why did they communicate through portraits? In answering these questions, Tittler reveals much about the social and cultural aspects of early modern life of much wider interest to the historian.
In contrast to most previous work on Tudor and Stuart portraits, Tittler highlights the importance of the provincial and vernacular aspects of culture so often overshadowed by the metropolitan and elite. Confirmation of regional distinctiveness follows on from this. This is not about art history but about the significance of these vernacular portraits for the sitters and viewers, about what they can tell us about the social, cultural, and religious values and aspirations of these people. For these portraits he is looking at were valued for their subject matter rather than for their aesthetic qualities.
Within a theoretical framework based on the emergence of a “bourgeois public sphere” and the concept of distinctive cultural provinces, Tittler explores all aspects of portrait painting during the period of study. Through a comprehensive examination of primary material, Tittler presents evidence on who commissioned these portraits and who painted them, as well as how the paintings were done and what resources were available. He highlights the contrast between the accomplished polite portrait, well modeled and naturalistic, painted mainly in London by known artists such as Holbein, Hans Eworth, and Gheeraerts, and the relatively unrefined, sometimes downright crude, portraits done by craftsmen, mostly unknown, living and working in the provinces. Although some characteristcs overlap, Tittler identifies those elements that evolved from a native English tradition rather than from continental influences and argues for a distinctive “English School” of portraiture during this period.
Detailed accounts of painters, like Randle Holme and his descendants in Chester, give us an insight into their lives. Evidence is presented on how they were apprenticed, how guilds operated, and what other work painters undertook, for few provincial vernacular painters made their living by this work alone.
The close connection between portraiture and heraldry, both of which increased significantly in the period of study, is explored and explained. It is the development of portraiture from the tradition of heraldry that Tittler argues is one of the characteristics that make early modern portraits particularly English. Not only were heraldic devices to be seen in many portraits, but the typical range of pigments used in the painting as a whole was very similar to those used by heralds. These pigments were generally locally sourced or readily available to the provincial painter.
Tittler goes on to suggest a vocabulary of props included in the paintings that further illuminate the meaning and significance intended to be conveyed to those viewing the portrait. As well as armorial bearings, these included material objects, inscriptions, and physical settings. He demonstrates how, once this “vocabulary” is understood, an astonishing amount of information about the life of the sitter can be read in the painting.
This book provides a valuable evidence base for researchers in other, related fields. For example, the “middling sort” are mentioned as prime clients for these portraits, and it would be useful to explore whether this can add to the debate on whether and when they emerged as a coherent, self-aware group with aspirations of their own. Another intriguing characteristic is that, except for some family portraits, they are almost exclusively of individuals, whereas among the relatively few wall painting portraits that survive, several show a man and his wife in a harmonious and companionable pose. None of the portraits discussed or illustrated here do. Why, I wonder?
If ever a subject warranted lavish illustrations, this is one, but sadly, there are only a limted number of photos, and those are all in black-and-white. Notwithstanding this, the stories embodied in the portraits examined are extraordinary, and this is an excellent book.
