This monograph examines the most prestigious political paintings created in Britain during the High Baroque age. It investigates a period characterized by numerous social, political, and religious crises, in the years between the restoration of the Stuart monarchy (1660) and the death of the first British monarch from the House of Hanover (1727). On the basis of hitherto unpublished documents, the book elucidates the creation and reception of nine major commissions that involved the court, private aristocratic patrons, and/or civic institutions. The ground-breaking new interpretations of these works focus on strategies of conflict resolution, the creation of shared cultural memories, processes of cultural translation, the performative context of the murals and the interaction of painted images and architectural spaces.

Prof. Dr. Christina Strunck is chair of the Institute for Art History at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. Her enthusiasm for British art was sparked by her studies at the University of Cambridge and her time as lecturer at the University of York. In numerous publications, she has addressed processes of cultural exchange within Europe. Her areas of specialization are Italian-French relations in the early modern period and the relationship of these Catholic cultures to the British-Anglican tradition.