Paintings off the Peg: The Retail Sale of Paintings in Tudor and Early Stuart England

The scholarly consideration of the marketing of luxury goods like paintings in Renaissance Europe has rightly concentrated on the Italian and Netherlandish experiences, while the discussion of an English retail market for paintings has focused on a later era. This article investigates the retail sale of painting in Tudor and early Stuart times. It asks what sorts of paintings were sold, who sold them, and what sorts of spaces accommodated such sales. Whereas conventional art historical research has concentrated on the production and sale of portraits, the discovery of an early seventeenth-century list of coat of arms painters holding retail shops in London adds additional support to the prominence of arms painting in such retail sales. This article considers the social context underlying the importance of displaying coats of arms and shows that arms painters engaged in the retail sale as well as the production of arms. The article proceeds to examine the varieties of retail spaces in which sales took place and concludes with a consideration of how retail sale of paintings contributed to London's role as a cultural center.

Power, Prerogative, and the Politics of Sir Thomas Wentworth in Early Stuart England and Ireland

Investigations into the career of Sir Thomas Wentworth, first earl of Strafford, essentially consider three core aspects. First, his parliamentary career and whether his concern for upholding the ancient rights of the subject conflicted with his alleged apostacy when the prospect of office seemed achievable. Second, his deputyship in Ireland, specifically the manner in which he governed the kingdom and the wider implications that this entailed. Finally, his trial and execution, and the validity (or otherwise) of the charges laid against him. As a consequence, these assessments are generally limited to, or confined within, national perspectives, resulting in an assessment of Wentworth's career being too compartmentalized and lacking in overview. This article examines the merits of comparing his political style as the king's representative in northern England and Ireland. It demonstrates how Wentworth's presidency of the north was crucial in establishing prerogative rule, which he later applied with notable effect in Ireland. The parallels are important. In the course of governing two distinct jurisdictions he both encountered and confronted similar obstacles impeding what he called ‘good government’. Viewed from this perspective, Wentworth's accomplishments in the early years of his deputyship were drawn from past experiences where he successfully consolidated royal authority.