1 - Power and patronage


The 16th century was a period of dynamic transformation and development: a time which witnessed 
  • dramatic religious reform, 
  • the advent of printing, 
  • the rise of humanism, 
  • an extraordinary wave of artistic activity. 
Rulers and leading families sought to rival one another with increasingly elaborate programmes of patronage, pursuing the best artists of their day, from Dürer and Holbein to Michelangelo and Titian. 

In this introductory session we will examine the political structure of Europe and gain an understanding of some of the political systems and rulers who governed the societies in which art was produced. We will look at competition and rivalry between King Henry VIII in England, King Francis I in France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and focus on the patronage of Popes Julius II and Leo X in Rome. 
We also evaluate the impact of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation on the visual arts, following Martin Luther’s infamous Ninety-Five Theses of 1517 outlining his criticisms of Catholic church practice, often considered a major catalyst for the ensuing schism within the church. 

In Part II we are joined by Peter Schade, Head of Framing and Harriet O’Neill, Adult Courses and Events programmer, both at the National Gallery. Few of the collection's paintings have retained their original frames but Peter has spent many years sourcing, creating or adapting examples which complement the paintings historically. He will discuss notable examples from the 16thcentury collection with Harriet, whose PhD ‘Re-framing at the National Gallery’ examined the impact of these ‘new’ frames.

Slide list

3. Raphael, Portrait of Julius II, 1511. National Gallery, London. 

4a. Unknown artist, Portrait of Ferdinand Magellan, 16th or 17th century. The Mariners’ Museum Collection Newport News, Virginia Nicholas Hillard, 
4b. Miniature portrait of Sir Francis Drake, 1581. National Portrait Gallery, London 


6. Dürer, engraved portrait of Desiderius Erasmus, 1523. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 

8a. Flemish School, Emperor Charles V, c.1514-16. Royal Collection 
8b. Baldassare Castiglione, Il libro del Cortegiano or The Book of the Courtier, 1528. Aldine edition, Venice 

9a. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Thomas More, 1527. Frick Collection, New York 
9b. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of John Colet, c.1535. Royal Collection 



10a. Francesco Salviati?, posthumous portrait of Giovanni Rucellai, c.1540. Collezione Rucellai, Florence 
10b. Santa Maria Novella, Florence. Façade commissioned by Giovanni Rucellai 







11a. Giorgione, Il Tramonto (The Sunset), 1506-1510. National Gallery, London.

11b. Giorgione, Dresden Venus, c.1501. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden

Een naakt van deze omvang en als centraal onderwerp, was nog niet eerder in de westerse kunst voorgekomen. De compositie was in de eeuwen erna zeer invloedrijk,
tot aan het einde van de negentiende eeuw.  



12a. Titian, Diana and Callisto, 1556-9. National Gallery, London 
12b. Workshop of Marinus van Reymerswaele, Two Tax Gatherers, probably 1540s. National Gallery, London

13. Michelangelo, David, 1501-4. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence 
14. Michelangelo, David, 1501-4. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence Donatello, David, 1440s. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence 
15. View of copy of the statue in 2010 
16. View of the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence 
17. Pontormo, Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap (Carlo Neroni), 1529. Private Collection 
18. View of Florence 
19a. Leonardo da Vinci, The Virgin of the Rocks, about 1491/2-9 and 1506-8. National Gallery, London.

20. Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors, 1533. National Gallery, London. 
 
21. El Greco, The Purification in the Temple, c.1600. National Gallery, London 

22a. Giovanni Bellini, Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan, c.1501-2. National Gallery, London.

23a. Titian, Flight into Egypt c.1506-7. State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg 

24a. Europe in the early 16th century 
24b. Raphael, Portrait of Pope Julius II, 1511. National Gallery, London
24c. Flemish School, Emperor Charles V, c.1514-16. Royal Collection 

25. Joos van Cleve, Henry VIII, c.1530-5. Royal Collection 
26. Joos van Cleve, Francis I, c.1525. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia 

27. Unknown artist, The Field of the Cloth of Gold, c.1545. Royal Collection (Hampton Court Palace)

At 6pm on 7 June 1520, Henry VIII of England met François I of France near Calais, for an astonishingly grand European festival, designed to improve relations between the two great rival kingdoms. So magnificent was the occasion that it became known as the Field of Cloth of Gold.

To celebrate their newfound friendship — orchestrated by Henry's right-hand man, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey — Henry and François had agreed to meet and now, in a shallow valley a little to the south of Calais in northern France, the two kings embraced warmly.

The momentous moment marked the start of 18 days of feasts, tournaments, masquerades and religious services set amidst a sea of specially built — and incredibly elaborate — tents, banqueting houses and 'portable palaces'.

33. Titian, Portrait of Charles V at the Battle of Muhlberg, 1548. Museo del Prado, Madrid 
34a. Joos van Cleve, Henry VIII, c.1530-5. Royal Collection 
34b. Hans Holbein the Younger, Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan, 1538. National Gallery, London. 
35. Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors, 1533. National Gallery, London. Room 12 

38a. Copy of Luther Bible, 1534. Lutherhaus, Wittenberg 
38b. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Portrait of Martin Luther, 1533 Herzog Anton UlrichMuseum, 
38c. Braunschweig First page of Luther’s 95 Theses printed in Basel, 1517. Universitätsbibliothek Basel 

39a. ‘Julius Exclusus’: anon. woodcut, c.1522–23 in a German version of the text, attributed to Erasmus. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University 
39b. Raphael, Portrait of Pope Julius II, 1511. National Gallery, London.
 42. ‘How the Images in the City of Bern were done away with’. Illustration from Heinrich Bullinger, History of the Reformation (Edition of 1605/06. Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, B 316, fol. 321v.) 
43.  Raphael, Portrait of Pope Julius II, 1511. National Gallery, London. Currently on loan 
44. The Sistine Chapel (ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo,1508-12)
47. Raphael, The School of Athens, c.1509-11. Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Palace, Vatican City 
56a. Titian, Pope Paul III, 1545-6. Museo di Capodimonte, Naples Pasquale Cati 
56b. The Council of Trent, 1588-9. Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome 

59. Veronese, Feast in the House of Levi (originally entitled The Last Supper), 1573.
Gallerie dell’ Accademia, Venice 

66. El Greco, St Peter in Penitence, 1580s. The Bowes Museum


Part 2 – Harriet O’Neill and Peter Schade,

  ‘Renaissance Frames 
at the National Gallery’ 

The original frame to ‘The Mond Crucifixion’, San Domenico, Citta di Castello Raphael.
‘The Mond Crucifixion’, 1502-03. National Gallery, London. Shown in a 19th - century frame 

A selection of Neo-Renaissance frames 

Carlo Crivelli, La Madonna della Rodine (The Madonna of the Swallow), c.1490-92.
National Gallery, London. Shown in its original frame 

Andrea Mantegna, The Virgin and Child with the Magdalen and Saint John the Baptist, probably 1490-1505. National Gallery, London. Shown in a 16th -century carved and gilded tabernacle frame


Leonardo da Vinci, The Virgin of the Rocks, c.1491/2-1506-09. National Gallery, London. Shown in a palimpsest frame for Leonardo da Vinci, The Virgin of the Rocks

Raphael, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 1507. National Gallery, London.
Shown in 19 th -century and 16th -century frames

Raphael, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 1507. National Gallery, London.
Shown in a 16th -century frame 


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