This was a rich era for decorative arts in England with patronage from monarchs, aristocrats and of course the Church, although much was destroyed during the Reformation.
This exhibition has gathered together over 300 objects, a mix of tapestries, manuscripts, sculpture, paintings, armour, jewellery and many ecclesiastical treasures such as gold and silver chalices, reliquaries, altarpieces, tomb effigies and stained glass.
Although the V&A has substantial holdings from the period, it has borrowed widely from other sources for what is its major exhibition of the autumn. Exhibits have come from parish churches, from Oxford and Cambridge colleges, City livery companies and from collections and museums overseas. Gothic: Art for England 1400-1547 is at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, until January 18.
Gothic at the V&A
It is now 15 years since the Royal Academy mounted their landmark exhibition, The Age of Chivalry, covering the arts in Plantagenet England from 1200-1400. This week the Victoria and Albert Museum launches its chronological successor – Gothic: Art For England, covering the later medieval period from 1400-1547.
