Kings queens of England and Scotland Author:David Piper David Piper's aim in this fascinating and lavishly illustrated book has been to select the most interesting and potent portraits and images of all English and Scottish sovereigns going back to William the Conqueror and James I of Scotland respectively, and to examine the ideals and philosophy behind them. He has also found representations of... more » a number of Anglo-Saxon sovereigns, including one of Offa (767 - 96), the earliest English king. Coins, seals, manuscripts, tomb effigies, paintings, engravings, popular prints, statues, busts, postage stamps, photographs--there are examples of portraits in all these media, and wherever possible the portraits are contemporary. The conflict in the artist's mind between the general and the particular, between a need to exalt the monarchy and a desire to present a true likeness, becomes steadily sharper and more apparent as the centuries go by. "Kings and Queens of England and Scotland" is a microcosm of evolving artistic and national consciousness.
Although many medieval effigies had individual features, it is not until the end of the 14th century that the authenticity of a king's likeness, that of Richard II, can be checked against other portraits. The early depictions, on coins and seals, had been mainly symbolic. Holbein, Hilliard and Van Dyck raised the art of royal portraiture to the highest plane in the 16th and 17rh centuries and their paintings of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Charles I and that art has again been revolutionized today by photography and television.
Contains 49 color and 109 black and white illustrations.« less