V&A:
Gothic Art for England 1400-1547
Royal academy: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe
Two exhibitions
with a lot of similarities – three rooms apiece, the extended late medieval
period, comprehensive catalogues ... however also differences: the latter was more narrowly focused, perhaps
less ambitious, but more enjoyable.
‘Gothic’ has generally
had an unfavourable press and it is easy to see why: the arbitrary division
into categories: ‘royalty’, ‘war and chivalry’, ‘patrons’, etc. must
have seemed like a logical idea, but failed to illuminate the exhibits,
and the awkward division of the exhibition space into three separated
rooms made it difficult to compare items of like period and type.
On a more practical note, when visiting exhibitions, I like to
pay a repeat visit to items of particular interest (in this case, for
instance, items with a particular connection with Richard) and the layout
made this difficult.
Extending ‘Gothic’
well into the Tudor period did not really work.
It applies most in architecture, where the continuity in sacred
and secular architecture is perfectly viable – there is a continuum
from Eton College and King’s College chapel, through St George’s, Windsor,
to the Henry VII chapel, and from the great halls of Eltham Palace and
Crosby Hall to Hampton Court. But, unfortunately, architecture was least
illustrated of all the decorative arts in the exhibition, being confined
to some detached portions of buildings, large out-of-focus photographs,
and a small slide show of buildings, towards the end of the exhibition.
(It had a better showing in the accompanying television programme.) In other decorative arts, too often one’s reaction
was ‘too late’, when confronted with Tudor caps and rounded toes .
The way the items
were displayed left a good deal to be desired – rows of flat fronted
show cases with captions at navel level, and the low levels of lighting
necessary to conserve the exhibits, made reading captions difficult,
and the crowded nature of the exhibition meant that the opportunity
to move freely in front of a show case, to compare items, was lost.
It was nice to see Margaret of York’s coronet in the round (it
was nice to see Margaret of York’s coronet ... having pursued it to
Aachen, in 2002, only to find it had escaped us to reside temporarily
at the Tower), but it would have been nice to see both sides of the
Middleham Jewel, as is the case in its permanent home in the Yorkshire
Museum. At the V&A the lighting
was so poor that although one could stand in front of the showcase and
by judicious positioning ‘wear’ the Middleham Jewel as a ferronière,
one could not see its reverse. Insensitive
display lost much of the point of other exhibits – Richard Beauchamp
and his ‘hearse’ plonked down on a plinth in the V&A and looking
up with praying hands to – the ceiling of the V&A, lost all the
context of his tomb in St Mary’s Warwick, with hands raised in prayer
to the Virgin in the ceiling above him.
Many of the objects
were wonderful in themselves – what child would not learn its cross-row
presented with a porringer such as the Studley cup, and it was of course
pleasing to see so many items with Ricardian connections – the Middleham
Jewel, his Book of Hours, the Rous Roll, the Chester sword, etc., but
many did not earn their display space: why for example display a man and horse armour
of Henry VIII, when a properly Gothic man and horse armour could be
seen just down the road at the Wallace Collection?
It was also unfortunate
that some of the text was traditional:
‘Edward V was killed in the Tower ...’ – I was kept busy assuring
members of the London & Home Counties Branch party, with whom I
visited the exhibition, that I was protesting against these comments.
So – wonderful objects,
but not a coherent exhibition as a whole.
My favourite object (naturally excluding the Ricardian items)
was the enamelled brooch in the shape of a flower, with a tourmaline
centre, which looked as fresh and modern as if had been left behind
by the previous – Art Deco – exhibition.
I had suggested that
the Branch visit might take in the Royal Academy exhibition in the afternoon,
but no one wanted to do this – very wisely as it turned out, as it would
surely have led to visual indigestion, and even visiting the RA exhibition
alone almost did so. Its better layout, however, in three interlinked
rooms, did give the opportunity to revisit favourites – except that
any and all of the manuscripts could have been so designated.
The manuscripts ranged
in size from no bigger than the thumb to Eton choirbook size, and almost
all were absolute stunners, particularly when one realised that each
MS had many illuminations, of which only one page was being displayed,
albeit perhaps the plum. Some of the illustrations were familiar and
it was lovely to see them in the flesh so to speak, so much more three-dimensional
than reproductions, with gorgeous, glittering gold leaf, and softer,
burnished gold. Some were revelations - including some Spanish family trees that
in fact belong to the British Library.
While the shields had not been completed, giving an unfinished
look, the figures and faces clearly had been completed, and although
probably not intended as portraits were nevertheless sharply individual.
There were of course
Ricardian connections – Margaret of York and Mary of Burgundy, and Lord
Hastings. Lord Hastings’ ‘London’ Hours, familiar to Ricardians, and
Lord Hastings’ other ‘Hours’.
It
really brought it home to you, how much this was ‘conspicuous consumption’,
immensely expensive to commission and acquire, at the time, and truly
staggering, if you fell to computing the current value of what was assembled
there.
Once
again it is possible, at least to the slightly jaundiced, Ricardian
eye, to detect a falling-off in quality towards the end of the period
covered, before illumination ceases and printing takes over.
Contributed by Elizabeth
Nokes
Further Reading:
Gothic Art for England
1400-1547 edited
by Richard Marks and Paul Williamson. V&A Publications 2003
Bosworth
Exhibition Centre
King Richard lost
his life on the battlefield of Bosworth
on 22 August 1485. Leicestershire County Council developed the site
of the battle by building a visitors’ centre, housing an exhibition
about the battle, and establishing a battle trail. Lottery
funding has financed a re-development of the site.
To Prove a Villain – The Real Richard
III
In
1991 the Society was given a unique opportunity - to mount an exhibition
at the Royal National Theatre, London, to coincide with a production
of Richard III starring Sir Ian McKellen and to provide an alternative
view of King Richard III.
The
exhibition was organised into two main sections consisting of nine wall
panels and twelve display cases, each drawing upon quotations from Shakespeare's
play, The Tragedy of King Richard III, for its theme, such 'Divided
York and Lancaster' - background to the Wars of the Roses, and 'Poor
Painted Queen' - the royal portraits.
At
the close of the exhibition on 2 April 1991, it was moved to Warwick
Castle where it was displayed in a modified form. The exhibition was
opened on 1 September 1991 by the Society's patron, HRH the Duke of
Gloucester. It was then moved to Leicester, but has now been dismantled;
parts of it are on display in Sutton Cheney Church and parts of it at
the Bosworth Battlefield Centre.
The
exhibition was a major achievement by the Society. Conceived and organised
by Geoffrey Wheeler with participation from over twenty members of the
Society, it was acknowledged by the theatre as having aroused considerable
interest to both theatregoers and visitors to the complex.
Further reading:
‘To Prove a Villain’
– The Real Richard III. Richard III Society 1993.
This booklet is no
longer in print but is available for loan to members from the Barton
Library
National Portrait
Gallery Exhibition
This exhibition took place between 27 June and
7 October 1973 at the NPG in London. The exhibition was mounted by Dr
Pamela Tudor-Craig and she collaborated closely with the Society's expert
in visual records of the period, Geoffrey Wheeler.
The
exhibition displayed many of the portraits of Richard, including the
NPG's own painting, the portrait in the Royal Collection and those in
the collections of the Society of Antiquaries, the duke of Northumberland,
Eton College and the marquess of Salisbury. Portraits of Edward IV,
Henry VI and the Yorkist European supporter, Louis of Gruthuyse, were
also included.
Also
exhibited were The Hastings Hours, the personal book of devotions
of Edward IV's chamberlain and friend, William, Lord Hastings, who was
executed by Richard in June 1483, Caxton's The Mirroure of the Worlde,
and the Charter of Incorporation of Freeman of Mistery of Wax Chandlers
of City of London by Richard III.
In
total, 49 portraits of King Richard, his family and associates were
exhibited, along with 213 artefacts and documents.
The
enormous popularity of the exhibition encouraged many visitors to join
the Society.
Further
Reading:
Richard III by Pamela
Tudor-Craig, National Portrait Gallery, London, 27 June-7 October 1973
This
book is no longer in print but is available for loan to members from
the Barton Library
Based on some of the text and illustrations
from the main exhibition, the Society has from time to time mounted
small local exhibitions such as one at Cardiff. The panels have also
toured the country with the RSC for the 1998-99 production of Richard
III with Robert Lindsay.
These travelling exhibition
panels are available for hire by Society branches, groups or individual
members from the Press Records and Exhibition Co-ordinator, see below.
Finally,
the Society also has a permanent exhibition in the church at Fotheringhay.