A Very British Renaissance

Having seen a documentary on the British Renaissance, I must say that I am quite impressed. Not because I thought that the British Renaissance was bad or lacking in any way, rather because when I thought about the Renaissance, I did not think of Britain at all.

The video made a good showing of why the British Renaissance isn't as talked about as the Italian Renaissance--not for lack of talent in Britain but more because of the over-centralizing focus on the Italian Renaissance.

What I learned about the painters in Britain was unexpectedly interesting. Of course there are great painters in every country that experiences a Golden Age for the arts and obviously there would be innovation in the arts within that time, but I was nonetheless surprised at the intricacies of the creation process of the miniature paintings. The painstaking details and processes carried out to make the painting seem unique and relieved (3D looking) were fascinating to learn, more so when this was coupled with the history behind why these miniature paintings were created, how the craftsman that made them learned that trade, and the significance they held to those that purchased them. Indeed, Brits were quite the lovebirds at all stages of the renaissance (Queen kind of included).

Once I got over the positively gag-worthy display of British man-fangirling over the did-you-know-it's-just-as-good-as-the-Italian-Renaissance-no-trust-me-really-this-building-has-5-sides-it's-like-amazing Renaissance thinly disguised as professional narration, I came to really appreciate the British Renaissance as presented in the documentary because of how the art mixed with the perspective the country had on their role in the world: that of an empire. The paintings that shifted toward the New World and Britain's future on it piqued my historical interest and it was intriguing for me to see how the Empirical Britain which I have read about and know well be represented in the art of that era. It's a side of Britain I had never thought much about, until now.