The Story of Tudor Art: A History of Tudor England Through its Art and Objects

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARA unique, illustrated history of Tudor England told through its art and artefacts. The Tudor dynasty (1485-1603) gave England five monarchs and an age of relentless power plays, scandal, and transformation.Thanks to artists like Hans Holbein the Younger, we feel we have a definite idea of the characters of these famous kings and queens: the miserly Henry VII, the six-times married tyrant Henry VIII, the boy king Edward VI, the devout matriarch Mary I and the virgin queen Elizabeth I.Yet, iconic as they are, when it comes to Tudor art, portraits - and rulers - are far from the whole story. In the sixteenth century, images and objects took on powerful new roles, as more people than ever before used them to shape their worlds.Monarchs, archbishops and courtiers continued to commission artworks in a variety of media, to convey messages and create a record of themselves as office-holders and individuals.But in this period, the ‘middling sort’, professional men and wo