1987

S1.E1 ∙ Finding a Likeness

Tue, Sep 22, 1987

First in a series on portraiture. What do people expect from a portrait? How important is likeness? Philip Mould shows that likeness was unimportant to medieval man and traces its gradual development, ending with Holbein's portraits of Henry VIII.

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S1.E2 ∙ The Elizabethans

Tue, Sep 29, 1987

For the Elizabethans, portraits had to be functional - to prove ancestry and loyalty to the crown and to commemorate or celebrate. Philip Mould talks about the importance of symbolism, especially in portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, and shows how an Elizabethan would have read and understood the Rainbow Portrait at Hatfield House.

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S1.E3 ∙ The King's Painters

Tue, Oct 06, 1987

Painters have been responsible for our image of their period. For Charles I it was Van Dyck; for the Royalists during the Civil War, William Dobson. For Cromwell it was Samuel Cooper, and for the Restoration, Peter Lely.

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S1.E4 ∙ A Face to Order

Tue, Oct 13, 1987

In the 18th century, artistic patronage broadened due to the rising merchant class. Mould looks at the works of Kneller, Hogarth, Devis, Reynolds and Gainsborough, and shows how each provided society with an image of itself as required.

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S1.E5 ∙ Painting for Posterity

Tue, Oct 20, 1987

In the Victorian era, the new men of acclaim were writers, poets, musicians, historians and intellectuals and thought worthy of being portrayed for posterity. Pre-Raphaelites and impressionism were reacting against traditional art forms.

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S1.E6 ∙ Portrayal or Betrayal

Tue, Oct 27, 1987

A look at 20th century trends in portraiture and in the story of the burning of Sutherland's portrait of Churchill. Includes a look at dilemmas facing today's portraitist.

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