Hardwick Hall, Holbein and Hilliard
Study Day on Tuesday 21st October 2025 at 11:30AM
Lecturer: Gillian White
Venue: Bishopswood Village Hall
There will be three lectures:
- Bess of Hardwick and Hardwick Hall
- Holbein and the Illusion of Reality
- Nicholas Hilliard and the Art of the Miniature
"Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall". Bess of Hardwick is one of the most fascinating women of the sixteenth century and her most famous building, Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, survives as a fine example of Elizabethan creativity, magnificence and pride. During this study day we'll examine Bess's story, her rising social status, her association with Mary, Queen of Scots, her many husbands and her royal aspirations. We'll also look at her earlier great house, Chatsworth, before concentrating on her surviving masterpiece, Hardwick Hall, its architecture, its interior and its luxurious furnishings.
Holbein painted beautiful and seemingly realistic portraits but behind the apparent realism the artist subtly manipulates us to portray a stylised and illusionistic world. This study day outlines Holbein's career and identifies some of his repertoire of tricks through close study of his paintings. The session cover Holbein&aposs early career, his two visits to London and his work for the court, and his portraits of foreigners in London. Amongst the paintings we'll be examining are The Ambassadors, The Whitehall Mural, the portrait of George Gisze and Holbein's many delicate depictions of Tudor courtiers.
Nicholas Hilliard captured a glowing, delicate and intimate image of the Elizabethans in his jewel-like portrait miniatures. He has left us a legacy of colour, pattern, symbolism and likeness, as well as an opinionated insight into the thoughts and practices of a sixteenth-century English artist. This lecture outlines Hilliard's career and explores the changing styles demanded by his patrons.
Dr Gillian White specialises in the history and visual arts of late medieval and sixteenth-century England. After beginning her career at the Warwickshire Museum, she then worked for the National Trust as Curator/Collections Manager at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, about which she wrote her PhD at Warwick University. Since that she taught part-time at Leicester University in the Centre for the Study of the Country House and continues to teach History of Art in the Department of Continuing Education at Oxford University and elsewhere.