ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the introduction of recognisably continental forms into British mural commissions under Charles I and during the civil wars and Interregnum, including at the royal palaces and Wilton House. It addresses how sources from continental histories were subsumed into British visual culture, and how the experience of them linked to contemporary masquing traditions. The book also addresses how sources from continental histories were subsumed into British visual culture, and how the experience of them linked to contemporary masquing traditions. Most aristocratic families of the era expended large amounts of money commissioning murals for their houses and palaces. A mural scheme could take months, if not years, to complete, requiring large key areas of the house to be given over to the artist and their entourage, the unwieldy architecture of scaffolding and the stench of paint.
