The Armada Paintings
Watch Lord Crathorne share surprising facts and stories about the Armada Paintings, his favourite artwork in Parliament, in the film above. This film is also available on YouTube. Watch here
Introductory information about the works are given below. You can also download the teachers' notes for full information, and classroom activities ideal for students aged 7-11.
About
The Armada Paintings project is one of the largest art commissions in recent years for the Houses of Parliament. The pictures hang in the Prince's Chamber in the House of Lords.
The six paintings are based on a series of ten tapestries commissioned by the commander of the English fleet, Lord Howard of Effingham, to celebrate the English victory in 1588. The tapestries hung in the House of Lords Chamber for over 180 years until they were destroyed in the fire of 1834.
The new paintings each measure 3.6 x 4.3 metres and took two and a half years to complete. They were installed in the Prince's Chamber in 2010.
The artist
Artist Anthony Oakshett was commissioned to compile the series of paintings with a team of five artists.
He received his first commission as an artist whilst a student at Cambridge University and has been in high demand for his portraits and large-scale paintings since.
He moved to London in the early 1980s, working in a studio in Chelsea until 2007 – the same year he was appointed by the House of Lords to paint the Armada paintings. He moved to a much larger studio at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire to complete the Armada paintings and now has a smaller studio in Wrest Park, where he continues to work.
The event
The paintings tell the story of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in the Summer of 1588 - the famous battle between the Spanish ships of Phillip II and the English ships of Elizabeth I.
King Phillip II of Spain wanted Mary Queen of Scots to become Queen of England as they both shared the same religion – they were Catholic whereas Elizabeth I was Protestant. Elizabeth I wanted Mary to be executed and when Phillip II heard this he sent his Armada to attack England.
The Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon (now in Portugal) in May 1588 to invade England. There were 130 Spanish ships.
When the Armada reached the south coast of England it was engaged in battle by the English and eventually forced back into the open sea. The Armada had nowhere to go and so headed to Calais on the coast of France. The intention was to pick up an army of 30,000 men and transport them across the channel to England.
However, the English set some boats on fire and let them drift into the Spanish fleet under cover of darkness. The Spanish fled in confusion and panic but they were hampered by bad weather conditions. After further battles they had to sail right round the north of Scotland to escape, through Atlantic gales that sunk a number of their remaining ships.
Only 67 of the original 130 ships made it back to Spain. The victory over the Spanish Armada was a defining moment in English history.