British Baroque: Art, Architecture and Patronage



Overview

What was Baroque art and what did it mean?

This week will explore the art, architecture and art patronage of the Baroque age in Britain (c.1660-1720). From its origins in Counter-Reformation Italy, the Baroque style was adapted to secular use by monarchs and the nobility. Buildings, paintings, sculptures, tapestries, woodcarvings and furnishings in exuberant designs were created to serve the social, religious and political aspirations of their patrons.

Taking the perspective of the patron, we will look at how the Baroque style was used to communicate their wealth, power and magnificence. We will follow Baroque in Britain from its earliest use in royal palaces, to its adoption by the nobility for their country houses. We will focus in depth on mural painting, and the ways in which it was used to communicate political and religious affiliation. We will then consider how the Baroque style was shaped by global networks of trade and migration, and will look at the different ways in which women were active as patrons.

Classroom seminars will be supplemented with visits to Blenheim Palace and the Ashmolean Museum, and a walking tour of Oxford’s Baroque architecture, including Trinity College and the Sheldonian Theatre.

This course is part of the Oxford University Summer School for Adults (OUSSA) programme.

Programme details

Seminars

Participants are taught in small seminar groups of up to 10 students, and receive two one-on-one tutorials with their tutor.

Sunday

Seminar 1: What is Baroque? In our opening seminar, we will look at the origins of Baroque art and architecture in Counter-Reformation Italy. We will follow its spread to the courts of Europe, especially the court of Louis XIV at Versailles. We will consider the religious and secular meanings of Baroque and its political significance. 

Seminar 2: Royal Baroque. The Baroque style was closely associated with magnificence and the exercise of power. This seminar will study the British monarchy’s adoption of Baroque, from its early appearance under James I, to the full-blooded Baroque of the later Stuart monarchs.

Monday

Seminar 3: Religious Baroque. This seminar will interrogate the relationship between British Baroque art and architecture, Protestantism and Catholicism. We will compare and contrast the paintings and sculptures that adorned royal chapels and private country house chapels. We will briefly consider St Paul’s Cathedral and Sir Christopher Wren’s City churches.

Seminar 4: Medium in focus: mural painting. The Baroque period was the golden age of mural painting in Britain, with royal and aristocratic patrons commissioning vast schemes for palaces and country houses. In this seminar we will look at some of the great lost and surviving mural schemes. We will decode their political and social meanings, and the role they played in their patrons’ self-fashioning.   

Tuesday

Seminar 5: Global Baroque. Britain may be an island, but British Baroque art was far from isolated. Artists and styles migrated from continental Europe, goods were traded from South and South East Asia, and raw materials from the Americas. This seminar will look at the place of British Baroque in a global network of trade, migration and stylistic exchange.

Seminar 6: Visit to the Ashmolean Museum. We will visit the ‘East Meets West’ gallery, where we will continue the discussion begun in the morning’s seminar. We will also take the opportunity to look at Baroque paintings and silverware in the Ashmolean’s collection.

Wednesday

Seminar 7: The Baroque Country House. Many of Britain’s most iconic country houses were built during the Baroque age, including Chatsworth House and Blenheim Palace. This seminar will look at country house architecture and interiors from the perspective of their patrons. It will ask why they created them, and what they hoped to achieve.

Seminar 8: Women patrons of Baroque art and architecture.  Whilst the commissioning of most buildings and artworks have been ascribed to male patrons, new scholarship is increasingly uncovering the contributions of women. This seminar will consider some of the ways in which women acted as patrons. It will also challenge the traditional understanding of who and what is a patron.

Thursday

Seminar 9 and 10: Field trip to Blenheim Palace. Building on Wednesday’s seminars, we will look at the architecture and interiors of one of the most important Baroque country houses in Britain, Blenheim Palace. During the visit, we will consider the ways in which the 1st Duke of Marlborough used Blenheim to create a dynastic legacy. We will discuss the process of curating a country house, and critically appraise how Baroque Blenheim is presented to modern visitors.

Friday

Seminar 11: Oxford Baroque. We will discuss Oxford’s role in the political and cultural life of Baroque Britain, and its effect on the city’s art and architecture. The seminar will serve as an introduction to the walking tour in seminar 12.

Seminar 12: Walking tour of Baroque Oxford. We will visit Trinity College chapel, with carvings by Grinling Gibbons. Across the Broad Street is Sir Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian theatre, with its painted ceiling by Robert Streeter, one of the earliest Baroque murals in Britain. Finally, we will visit James Gibbs’ late Baroque masterpiece, the Radcliffe Camera.

Programme timetable

The daily timetable will normally be as follows:

Saturday

14.00–16.30 - Registration

16.30–17.00 - Orientation meeting

17.00–17.30 - Classroom orientation for tutor and students

17.30–18.00 - Drinks reception

18.00–20.00 - Welcome dinner

Sunday – Friday

09.00–10.30 - Seminar

10.30–11.00 - Tea/coffee break

11.00–12.30 - Seminar

12.30–13.30 - Lunch

13.30–18.00 - Afternoons are free for tutorials, individual study, course-related field trips or exploring the many places of interest in and around Oxford.

18.00–19.00 - Dinner (there is a formal gala dinner every Friday to close each week of the programme).

A range of optional social events will be offered throughout the summer school. These are likely to include: a quiz night, visit to historic pubs in Oxford, visit to Christ Church for Evensong and after-dinner talks and discussions.

Fees

Description Costs
Fee Option 1 (Single en suite - inc. Tuition and Meals) £2110.00
Fee Option 2 (Double en suite - inc. Tuition and Meals) 1 person £2200.00
Fee Option 3 (Twin en suite - inc. Tuition and Meals) per person £1740.00
Fee Option 4 (No Accommodation - inc. Tuition, Lunch & Dinner) £1310.00

Funding

Concessionary rates are available on a non-residential basis for those that qualify, more information can be found here.

Unfortunately we do not offer any specific scholarships or funding opportunities for OUSSA programme, but you can visit our departmental funding webpage, where you may be able to find a particular source of funding that matches your requirements alongside meeting the funding criteria.

Payment

All fees are charged on a per week, per person basis.

Please be aware that all payments made via non-UK credit/debit cards and bank accounts are subject to the exchange rate on the day they are processed.

Tuition and meals are included in the programme fee, with both residential and non-residential options available.

Course change administration fee: Please note that course transfers may be permitted in exceptional circumstances; however, in accordance with our Terms and Conditions, an administration fee of £50 will be charged.

Payment terms

  • If enrolling online: full payment by credit/debit card at the time of booking
  • If submitting an application form: full payment online by credit/debit card or via bank transfer within 30 days of invoice date

Cancellations and Refunds

1. Cancellation by you

Participants who wish to cancel must inform the Programme Administrator in writing: by email to oussa@conted.ox.ac.uk or by post to OUSSA, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, OXFORD, OX1 2JA, UK.

The following cancellation and refund policy applies in all cases:

  • Cancellation within 14 days of online enrolment / payment of fees – full refund of all fees paid.
  • Cancellations received up to and including 30 April 2025 – OUDCE will retain an administration fee of £100 per week booked; all other fees paid will be refunded.
  • Cancellations received between 1-31 May 2025 – OUDCE will retain 60% of the fees paid; the remaining 40% of fees paid will be refunded.
  • Cancellations received on and after 1 June 2025 - no refunds will be made.

2. Cancellation by us

Where there is good reason, OUDCE reserves the right to cancel a course by giving you notice in writing at any time before the course is due to start. In these cases, we will endeavour to offer a transfer to another available course if practical and acceptable to you, subject to payment or refund of any difference in the course fees. Alternatively, we will refund the course fees that you have already paid. If we cancel a course, our liability is limited to the fees that we have received from you; this means that we will not compensate you for any pre-booked travel costs or any other expenses incurred. The status of this course will be reviewed on 1 May 2025. If it is likely that the course may be cancelled, anyone affected will be notified by email within 7 days; if you have not heard from OUDCE by 8 May 2025, you should assume that your course will be running. You may wish to delay finalising your travel arrangements until after this date.

OUDCE reserves the right to cancel a course at short notice in exceptional circumstances that would prevent the course from being delivered e.g. tutor illness. In these rare instances, we will notify you as soon as possible and arrange a transfer to another available Oxford Experience course. If we cancel a course, our liability is limited to the fees that we have received from you; this means that we will not compensate you for any pre-booked travel costs or any other expenses incurred.

Where course fees have been paid in currencies other than pounds sterling, refunds will be subject to the exchange rate on the day they are processed.

3. Travel insurance 

The Department cannot be held responsible for any costs you may incur in relation to travel or accommodation bookings as a result of a course cancellation, or if you are unable to attend the course for any other reason. You are advised to check cancellation policies carefully and to purchase travel insurance.

Tutor

Dr Amy Lim

Tutor

Amy Lim is a curator, art historian and lecturer. She is curator of the Faringdon Collection at Buscot Park, a country house in Oxfordshire, and the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham. She lectures widely for the Arts Society and other organisations, and has published articles and essays on British art from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. In 2022, Amy completed a DPhil at the University of Oxford in a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership with Tate Britain, where she was a researcher for the exhibitions ‘British Baroque’ (2020) and ‘Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520-1920’ (2024).

Course aims

This course aims to familiarise students with British Baroque art, architecture and interiors, and demonstrate how the style was utilised by patrons to communicate political and religious affiliation, power and status.

Teaching methods

The teaching methods used during this course may include:

  • Short lectures/presentations
  • Physical handouts (handouts will be images of artworks or links to images, to be circulated in advance)
  • Seminars/group discussions

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be expected to understand:

  • The origins and meanings of the Baroque style in Britain
  • How Baroque was expressed in art, architecture and interiors between 1660 and 1720
  • The relationship between the Baroque style and political and religious power
  • The ways in which different patrons utilised the style for different purposes

Assessment methods

Participants are required to undertake preparatory reading and complete a pre-course assignment of 1,500 words. Although this does not count towards credit, it is seen as an important way of developing your ideas and is mandatory. The pre-course assignment is typically due in the first week of June.

You will be assessed during the summer school by either a 1,000 word written assignment or a presentation supported by individual documentation. To successfully gain credit (10 CATS points) students should attend all classes and complete the on-course assignment. Participants will attend two one-on-one tutorials with their tutor during the week.

OUSSA is an accredited summer school taught at undergraduate level; each one-week course carries 10 CATS (Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme) points at FHEQ (Framework for Higher Education Qualification) Level 4. Learn more about CATS points.

Certificate of Higher Education

Credit earned from OUSSA can be transferred towards our flexible Certificate of Higher Education.

Study when and where it suits you by gaining credit from short courses, including short online courses, weekly classes and OUSSA, and build your way to an Oxford University award. This part-time undergraduate programme lasts between two and four years depending on how intensively you want to study.  

Find out more about the Certificate of Higher Education.

Application

Most courses fill quickly so early registration is strongly recommended. If your preferred course is fully booked, you may wish to add yourself to the waiting list and the Programme Administrator will contact you should a place become available.

Please note, the programme is only open to those over the age of 18.

Single accommodation, double room for 1 person and non-residential places may be booked online by clicking on the “Book now” button in the “Course details” box at the top right-hand side of the course page.

Those requiring twin, double or accessible accommodation should complete an enrolment form as these rooms cannot be booked online. Please send the completed enrolment form to the email address below. Both the PDF and Word option of the form below are editable, so you can complete them online before saving and sending to us as an email attachment. You do not need to print and scan them. (Please use these forms only if you are making a twin or double booking for two people.)

Online enrolments require payment in full at the time of registering.

Those who do not wish to register online or who have specific requirements (eg an accessible bedroom) should contact the Programme Administrator directly at oussa@conted.ox.ac.uk or OUSSA, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA, UK.

Accommodation

More information about our accommodation can be found here.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support