The early Tudor Renaissance in Hampshire: Anthony Blunt and ‘L’influence Française sur l’architecture et la sculpture décorative en Angleterre pendant la première moitié du XVIme siècle’ revisited1

Abstract

Anthony Blunt explored the phenomenon of the early Tudor Renaissance in a wide‐ranging and challenging paper, in particular linking the development of the fashion to French originals, and in particular to the archiepiscopal palace at Gaillon. His work has not been much built on since. Indeed, the whole concept of a recognisable fashion for applying all’antica motifs to architectural and other works as a separate artistic trait to the mainstream architecture of the time – Late Perpendicular – has, in recent times, been sidelined as of little importance. This paper take up the themes explored by Blunt, reveals that there is a wider body of material that can be explored in the context of the early Tudor Renaissance, and shows that there were a number of regional workshops that each worked to an individual, discrete style. The main thrust of the paper is centred on the development of the style and its enthusiastic adoption by senior political figures and country gentry in Hampshire, with this serving as a model for workshops operating elsewhere.