.Anthony Van Dyck, Five Eldest Children of Charles 1, 1637. Royal Collection Trust.
Join Desmond Shawe-Taylor, who held the post of Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures at the Royal Collection Trust until 2020, for a dynamic study afternoon on the British monarchy in art.
The title ‘What Makes a Monarch?’’ is drawn from William Makepiece Thackeray’s 1840 cartoon of Louis XIV, which implies that it is but wigs, robes and thrones that make a king. These two lectures look at portraits of Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses in the Royal Collection, asking what sort of sovereigns they are trying to make. They explore the prerequisites of royalty – magnificence, divine sanction and military authority; they also reveal the less obvious qualities of fashionable elegance, cultivation and family affection.
Study afternoon - includes two lectures, Q&A and a short break. Tickets £20
Part One:
The first lecture covers the reigns of the Tudors and Stuarts, during the age of absolute monarchy, when princes in art rode on clouds. It will culminate in Van Dyck’s images of Charles I, some of the greatest royal portraits in the history of art.
Part Two:
Addressing the Georgian, Victorian and modern ages, the time of constitutional monarchs who became less isolated from their subjects. While formal trappings persist, especially in state portraits, new types of imagery evolve from the conversation piece, showing the informal relationships between members of the royal family in a domestic setting, to ceremonial paintings recording royal events, The imagery of royalty was disseminated through exhibitions and created in a wider range of media including watercolours, reproductive engravings and photographs.
Proceeds from our ticket sales benefit museums, galleries and other arts-based organisations and projects.
This is an online event hosted on Zoom which can be watched live, or on-demand for three weeks afterwards. You will receive your link to access the event in your email confirmation and the on-demand link after the event ends.