Lecture 2 - Hans Holbein & The Birth of Painting in England

Hans Holbein spent two periods working in London, the influence of which echoed down through English art for decades. One consequence was the creation of what Roy Strong called "The Elizabethan Icon" – images designed to bolster the reputation of the monarch, particularly Elizabeth I. It was a time which saw the rise of the ‘miniature’ painted on vellum by Nicolas Hilliard, an art form much patronised by the dandified courtiers who waited on the Virgin Queen and the early Stuarts, those same people who will shape the life and careers of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.