The Face Of The City: Civic Portraiture And Civic Identity In Early Modern England

This is the first full-length study of English Civic Portraiture (portraits of mayors, aldermen, colleges and school heads, livery company masters etc) and the first to consider such portraiture as a form of civic or political discourse in early modern England. The book shows how the portrayal of civic officials (rather than religious figures or members of the aristocracy, court circle or royal family) served to define the cultural and political identity of civic communitie in the post-reformation period.