patronage, artistic

patronage, artistic. Patronage goes beyond the act of purchasing art. Traditionally a patron offered the means of support to the artist, a home, a pension or place, as well as specific payments. The monarchy, church, and aristocracy were the great patrons of medieval architecture, art, and music: Edward the Confessor built Westminster abbey, Henry III rebuilt it, and Henry VII added the east chapel; Henry VI endowed Eton College, Christ's College and King's College, Cambridge. Many of the Oxford and Cambridge colleges were founded by clerics: Peterhouse, Cambridge, by Hugh de Balsham, bishop of Ely (1284), New College, Oxford, by William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester (1379), Corpus Christi College, Oxford, by Richard Foxe, bishop of Winchester (1517), Christ Church, Oxford, by Cardinal Wolsey (1525). Among the many aristocratic patrons were Humphrey, duke of Gloucester (d. 1447), and John Tiptoft, earl of Worcester (d. 1470), whose gifts of books formed the basis for the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

The tradition of religious patronage declined after the Reformation, as much of the wealth of the church was alienated and clerics ceased to dominate political life as Morton and Wolsey had done. Elizabeth I encouraged the cult of majesty, patronizing artists like Hilliard and Hans Eworth to convey her image of royal splendour. Inigo Jones was involved in architecture, decoration, and the design of masques for the courts of James I and Charles I, and the first poet laureate was Ben Jonson in James I's reign. Thomas, earl of Arundel, patron to several painters including Rubens, introduced Van Dyck to Charles I, the last great royal patron of arts. The Civil War put many artists out of work or into exile, yet patronage continued. Peter Lely prospered under Charles I and II, as well as under Cromwell, who, along with other parliamentarians, sat for portraits by Robert Walker. Cromwell also loved music and retained a small group of domestic musicians. The Restoration brought back the Stuarts but not intensive royal patronage. Charles II recognized his duty to the arts but salaries or pensions were often erratically paid. He was, though, an enthusiastic patron of the theatre and horse-racing, while many of the noblemen who followed him out of exile both practised and patronized literature.

The beginnings of the 18th cent. saw increasing political patronage of the arts. The Kit Kat Club, a group of in- fluential Whigs, whose members included the writers Congreve and Addison, artists Vanbrugh and Kneller, and politicians Walpole and Newcastle, extended patronage over all aspects of art and music. Among traditional patrons, returning grand tourists commissioned or rebuilt great houses, and filled them with decoration, paintings, sculpture, silverware, and furniture. Chandos was patron to Handel and the duke of Richmond patron to Canaletto, who spent nine years in England. Lord Burlington befriended William Kent, financed his publications, and collaborated on several of his Palladian designs. George I and George II enjoyed music and patronized Handel and the opera, and employed the sculptors Rysbrack and Roubiliac.

Increasing prosperity meant a role in patronage for the general public. The Three Choirs Festival of Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford was founded in 1713; books were published by subscription; prints and engravings and later caricatures from artists like Hogarth and Rowlandson sold in large numbers. New money from industry went into the arts: Wedgwood the potter was patron of George Stubbs and Joseph Wright of Derby. In the 19th cent. the Pre-Raphaelites found support among the industrialists of the midlands and north of England, and throughout the century wealthy art lovers like Angerstein, Tate, and Wallace made generous gifts to public galleries. At a lower level, the newly formed borough and county councils filled their foyers with sculptures and their corridors with portraits of chairmen, mayors, and aldermen.

Patronage of art is now institutionalized. Few individuals in a century of heavy taxation have the wealth to support the arts but royalty still sits for portraits, even if the commissioning organization pays the artist. New town corporations place lonely sculptures on wind-swept grassy banks. But in the main it is orchestras or bodies like the BBC who commission new music, and universities which find funds for painters or poets in residence. Funding comes from a diversity of sources, from the Arts Council to the National Lottery. An artist is unlikely to have a home provided by a patron. He will be paid but not by a long-term stipend. He may receive the freedom of a city but not a government office. He retains his independence, which Dr Johnson valued more than a patron, ‘who supports with insolence and is paid with flattery’.

June Cochrane