The Story
A Genealogical History of the Kings of England, and Monarchs of Great Britain, &c. From the Conquest, Anno 1066, to the Year 1677 by Francis Sandford. Gift of Lewis R. Coulson, 2017
Created in 1677 during the Baroque period, this work belongs firmly within the power & politics tradition. Francis Sandford worked at a moment when the rivalry between Catholic Baroque drama and Protestant restraint reshaped what a painting could mean. Every gesture, fabric, and gleam of light was decoded by contemporary viewers like a private language.
Executed in Illustrations: etching and engraving, measuring 14 5/8 × 9 9/16 × 2 1/16 in. (37.2 × 24.3 × 5.3 cm), the surface rewards close looking. Francis Sandford builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
