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Elizabethan Style, in English art, a period between the Gothic and Renaissance styles. It reached its apogee in the late 1500s, toward the end of the long reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and is often considered the last phase of the long-lasting Tudor style. Although the Elizabethan age produced a certain amount of characteristic sculpture (particularly tomb sculpture) and painting (such as Nicholas Hilliard's miniature portraits), the Elizabethan style can best be seen in the period's architecture—the great country houses of the new nobility. Elizabethan style was eclectic, borrowing decorative motifs from Continental Gothic, Italian, and Flemish design; exteriors and interiors were elaborately ornamented with relief work, mullions, ornate chimneys, and friezes. The main impulse of Elizabethan architecture was toward a well-ordered symmetry; Elizabethan symmetrical facades, often filled with huge windows, were different from those of the heavy castlelike Gothic and early Tudor country residences. A typical building of the period is Wollaton Hall (1588), Nottinghamshire, built by Robert Smythson; it was the first English house to abandon the traditional central courtyard and to place in its stead a high-ceilinged great hall lighted by gallery windows and surrounded by classically proportioned, multiwindowed wings. Elizabethan style[iliz´´ubE´thun] Pronunciation Key, in architecture and the decorative arts, a transitional style of the English Renaissance, which took its name from Queen Elizabeth's reign (1558–1603). During this period many large manor houses were erected by the court nobility. The plans and facades tended more toward symmetry, although there remained many of the characteristics of the Tudor style. The great hall of medieval manors was retained, and features were added that increased the occupants' comfort : a broad staircase, a long gallery connecting the wings of the house on the upper floors, withdrawing rooms, and bedrooms of greater size and importance. Examples of the great manors of the period are Longleat, Wiltshire; Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire; Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire; Montacute House, Somerset; and Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire. The houses were often designed by the owners themselves, who furnished ideas that were amplified by their mason or carpenter. The freemason Robert Smythson is one of the earliest names associated with English architecture. From Flemish and Italian books the planners haphazardly adapted Renaissance, mannerist, and Flemish motifs, including columns, pilasters, lozenges, festoons, scrolls, and grotesque figures. No attempt was made to achieve the unified classical style of architecture that had already appeared in Italy and France. A greater unity was achieved in the subsequent Jacobean style. In landscape design, formal gardens were developed with clipped boxwood and yews along balustraded terraces, which formed a finished setting for the great manors. In the houses of lesser gentry and yeomen, construction in the Gothic style continued, with the use of half-timber construction, leaded windows, and hammer-beam roofs. Elizabeth I furniture at Barnes & Noble  Print This Page |
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The late 16th Century is commonly and rightly associated with Queen Elizabeth I of England, and so is often referred to as the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth herself was highly aware of how dress could be made to manipulate a public political image, and spent her public life as queen in a series of progressively larger, more decorated and more uncomfortable gowns, until she resembled an auto icon of Late Renaissance design and power.
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of England has been politically united since the tenth century. This article centers on that territory. However, before the tenth century and after the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603, it is difficult to distinguish English from British history. It was the height of the English Renaissance, and saw the flowering of English literature The term English literature can mean: Literature from England written in the modern English language or its antecedents (such as Middle or Old English). (The rest of this article discusses this category.)
Literature composed primarily in the English language by writers not from England; see articles on specific national and regional literatures, such as. It was an age of expansion and exploration abroad, while at home the Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists.