13
November 2025

Tudor Art: A New Story

Welcome to The Arts Society Cambridge
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 10:45
Online Event

This lecture puts a variety of 16thC art in religious, political, social and artistic context as viewers would have seen them.

The Tudor dynasty gave England five monarchs, endless power plays and much scandal. Images and objects took on powerful new roles, as monarchs, archbishops and courtiers used paintings architecture tapestry and decorative art to endorse their position and influence their legacy. But the 'middling sort', professional men and women, were also gaining status, wealth and confidence and promoted themselves using a dazzling array of objects.

From Henry VII onwards, the Tudor dynasty made unprecedented use of painting, architecture, tapestry and other decorative objects that surrounded English viewers to promote their rule in the 16th century. This lecture will consider the Renaissance influences at Henry VIII’s court, the revival of medieval and neo-chivalric themes under Elizabeth I, and the lesser-known artistic atmosphere during the reigns of Henry VII, Edward VI and Mary I.

THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Dr Christina Faraday

Dr Christina Faraday, FRHistS, is a historian of art and ideas, specialising in Tudor and Stuart Britain and the wider 16th and 17th-century world. She is a Research Fellow in History of Art at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, a Trustee of the Walpole Society for British art history, and a BBC New Generation Thinker, appearing regularly on BBC Radio 3 and in other popular media. She is an experienced lecturer, and teaches for the History of Art Department at the University of Cambridge, The Wallace Collection, the National Gallery, London, and for the Institute for Continuing Education, Cambridge, where she is Co-Director of the MSt in History of Art and Visual Culture. Her first book, Tudor Liveliness: Vivid Art in Post-Reformation England, was published in 2023 by the Paul Mellon Centre and Yale University Press. Her next book, The Story of Tudor Art, will be published in 2025.

Please note: I am in the process of constructing my profile, and not all my lectures have full synopses yet. For those without, longer synopses are coming soon, or available on request. If you would like to know more about what will be covered in a particular lecture, please get in touch.

If you have any issues contacting me via the email address listed here, please also try me at christinajfar@gmail.com.

Testimonials from past lectures and courses:

"Dr Faraday's enthusiasm and energy were fantastic - she inspired us all and we couldn't wait for more. Brilliant screen shows, such a variety and all so well prepared ... she knows so much and puts it all over so intelligently and is so easy to understand."

"Absolutely superb course, with brilliant design and fantastic delivery. The content was thoughtfully crafted, and themes and topics built meaningfully upon one another. Dr. Faraday was an outstanding tutor: such an engaging lecturer, and wonderfully engaged. An exceptional course!"

"This was a very high-quality course and must count as one of the best I have attended."