LONDON, ENGLAND.- The Victoria and Albert Museum will open its major autumn exhibition, Gothic: Art for England 1400-1547,   on 9th October showing for the first time the glory of late medieval art from the reign of Henry IV to the reign of Henry VIII. The exhibition is the successor to the acclaimed Age of Chivalry (1200-1400) at the Royal Academy in 1987/88.

The V&A Gothic exhibition covers the period brought to life by Shakespeare’s great history plays such as Henry V and Richard III, a period that evokes Agincourt, war with France, the Wars of the Roses and a time of English insularity. The exhibition will show, by contrast, how against this backdrop,  the huge wealth and extensive patronage of monarchs, aristocrats, the Church and merchants made the late medieval years one of the richest periods for the arts in England. Far from being insular, wealthy patrons were international and cosmopolitan, commissioning pieces from great artists both in England and abroad, chiefly the Netherlands and France.

Fires, war, and the Reformation have destroyed much of the art of the period making the surviving art and artefacts extremely rare. The exhibition brings together a superb collection of surviving treasures with more than 300 objects including tapestries, manuscripts, sculptures, paintings, armour, jewellery, gold and silver chalices and reliquaries, plate, altarpieces, tomb effigies and stained glass.

Highlights of the exhibition include: the funerary helmet, shield and sword of Henry V; the crown of Margaret of York (sister of Edward IV), which has been in Germany for 500 years; the gold Reliquary of the Order of St.-Esprit owned by the wife of Henry IV and lent by the Louvre; a monumental stained-glass window from St. Mary’s, Fairford;  an elaborate silver-gilt beaker made for  Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII; an early edition of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales printed by William Caxton in 1483; the gold and enamel Dunstable Swan Jewel; the Donne Triptych by the Flemish Master Hans Memling and paintings by Holbein; a deathbed scene of Dick Whittington, and the thrice mayor of London’s spoons, the only surviving objects from Whittington’s vast collection of plate; a St. George and the Dragon made for the Armourers and Brasiers’ Company of London;  the huge Boar and Bear Hunt from the famous Devonshire tapestries; the silver salt and  beautifully detailed silver-gilt crosier of the fabulously wealthy Bishop Fox, Bishop of Winchester, one of only three surviving late medieval silver crosiers; a stained glass portrait of Princess Cecily, daughter of Edward IV.

Another highlight will be two magnificent 15th century manuscripts belonging to the Duke of Bedford, brother of Henry V, which have been separated for six hundred years and which the V&A is reuniting for the exhibition. The Salisbury Breviary and the Bedford Psalter and Hours are two of only 12 manuscripts that survive today from Bedford’s great library, once one of the largest private libraries in Europe. The Duke, who became regent of France and protector of England, was involved with the trial of Joan of Arc and is one of the ’happy few’ mentioned by name in Shakespeare’s ’Henry V’ in the  famous ’St Crispin’s Day’ speech.

Richard Marks, curator, said: "The exhibition evokes a period brilliantly depicted in Shakespeare’s great history plays, which was not just a time of war and conflict. The late medieval years were  a time  of conspicuous artistic consumption when unprecedented numbers of English men and women bought, commissioned and built on a lavish scale. It was one of the richest periods for the arts in England. The  increasing wealth of patrons, both aristocrats and merchants, made rich by textiles and the wool trade, encouraged an outpouring of investment and new commissions of art from throughout England and the Continent, chiefly from the Netherlands and France. They were cosmopolitan, commissioning the best artists from abroad as well as in England."

The exhibition is organised thematically. The main themes are: Royalty; War & Chivalry; Patrons; City and Town; Household; Church; Death.  As well as exhibiting the treasures of the elite, the exhibition will include domestic objects that will give visitors a view of daily life.  The finest tapestries, ceramics, books and domestic stained glass will be juxtaposed with simpler objects used by ordinary people.

The displays will bring to life leading personalities and patrons of the time such as the Beauchamps, the Nevilles and Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII.

The exhibition will explore art and artefacts from the magnificent Gothic cathedrals and the great wealth of Church leaders such as Archbishop Chichele and Bishop Fox of Winchester. However, it will also focus on the great number of parish churches built during this period and embellished through the wealth of rich patrons.  Objects will include screens, altarpieces, missals, books of hours, stained-glass windows, plate, tomb effigies, a bell, carvings, alabaster sculptures, choir books and the cope of Cardinal Morton. The architectural heritage of the period, which surrounds us today, will be evoked by films and photographs - buildings such as King’s College, Cambridge, Hampton Court and Westminster Abbey; castles such as Herstmonceaux, buried deep in the English countryside; and timbered buildings in towns such as Lavenham, Suffolk.

Richard Marks said: "The exhibition challenges the perception that the Gothic style ended when the Tudor dynasty triumphed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and the ’early modern’ era began.  It will show that, although forms derived from the Italian and Northern Renaissance began to appear, the Gothic style remained the prevailing artistic style in England until the middle of the 16th century."

The objects will come to the exhibition from a wide range of institutions in England, Europe and the United States. They include parish churches, cathedrals, Oxford and Cambridge colleges, schools, livery companies, town councils and stately homes as well as private owners and international museums * anywhere where art and artefacts from this long ago period have survived.

The book Gothic: Art for England 1400-1547 edited by Richard Marks and Paul Williamson will be published by V&A Publications on 7 October to accompany the opening of the exhibition.  There is no other  publication of this size and scope covering this important period of art in England’s artistic history. Priced at £45.00, bound in hardback and containing over 410 colour and 65 black and white illustrations, leading medieval scholars have contributed essays on subjects which encompass all aspects of life from war and politics to royalty and patronage, religion and the relationship with Europe, music and architecture.

Also published on 7 October Medieval and Renaissance Stained Glass in the Victoria and Albert Museum by Paul Williamson (£30.00 hardback). The exhibition is being supported by the Patrons of the V&A.