HISTORY OF ART DURING THE ELIZABETHAN ERA
In modern times, people tend to believe art is an expression of the artist’s deepest feelings and beliefs. But this is not what Elizabeth’s day believed. All English artists were expected to fulfill their patriotic duty by glorifying the queen. Since it was impossible in the Elizabethan Era to support anyone through their art, most artists depended on patrons. Patrons are wealthy sponsors who helped people financially. They also decided to frequently flatter patrons in their art, hoping for a financial award.
There was no right to free speech or freedom of the press in the Elizabethan Era in England, and it was highly dangerous to write, paint, or even sing about issues of the current time and day. So artists and writers found ways to indirectly represent current issues and problems. Most artists decided to use ancient art or allegory, which is a story or painting that represents abstract ideas or symbols as characters, figures, or events. Meanwhile, most writers decided to write historical events of the distant past that were similar to current related events that the readers understood how the author was trying to presents these events as commentary on current social problems.
(A Native American woman protecting an Elizabethan Era man)
During the early Renaissance, which spanned from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, the arts in Europe bloomed into new and fresh forms. Which blended the philosophy and creative forms of the ancient civilizations of Rome and Greece with European styles. When England separated from the European continent by the English Channel, they caught up in religious upheaval, but were slow to respond to the new artistic influences of the Renaissance. It was not until the Elizabethan Era, the period when Queen Elizabeth reigned which was known as the golden age, that the English Renaissance began.
There was no right to free speech or freedom of the press in the Elizabethan Era in England, and it was highly dangerous to write, paint, or even sing about issues of the current time and day. So artists and writers found ways to indirectly represent current issues and problems. Most artists decided to use ancient art or allegory, which is a story or painting that represents abstract ideas or symbols as characters, figures, or events. Meanwhile, most writers decided to write historical events of the distant past that were similar to current related events that the readers understood how the author was trying to presents these events as commentary on current social problems.
(A Native American woman protecting an Elizabethan Era man)
During the early Renaissance, which spanned from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, the arts in Europe bloomed into new and fresh forms. Which blended the philosophy and creative forms of the ancient civilizations of Rome and Greece with European styles. When England separated from the European continent by the English Channel, they caught up in religious upheaval, but were slow to respond to the new artistic influences of the Renaissance. It was not until the Elizabethan Era, the period when Queen Elizabeth reigned which was known as the golden age, that the English Renaissance began.
(The Elizabethan Age)