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Henry VIII Revealed: Holbein's Portrait and Its Legcy
The portly figure of Henry VIII depicted by Holbein may be very familiar, but this book reveals much more about the portrait, the sitter, the artist, and his workshop. It gathers together and analyzes the several copies and variants of Holbein’s Whitehall cartoon of Henry VIII, more than one of which is by the only significant painter immediately after Holbein in England, Hans Eworth. The book reveals for the first time the results of extensive technical analysis and historical research undertaken on surviving versions of the portrait in the Walker Art Gallery, Chatsworth, Petworth, Trinity College, Cambridge, and elsewhere. It throws light not only on Henry VIII but on the Tudor court and on courtiers who, for their own purposes, wished to keep his memory alive after his death. The book explores how and when the portraits were painted and the motivation behind their production and also traces how they affected subsequent portrayals of the monarch, down to film and television. The book accompanies an important exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, where Xanthe Brooke is curator and David Crombie painting conservator.
- GenresArt
128 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2003
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January 12, 2018
This book was written to accompany the Henry VIII Revealed exhibition at the Walker, Liverpool in 2003. It has two authors: Xanthe Brooks and David Crombie. The first half of the book, written by Xanthe Brooks is more accessible for those interested in art, art history and history of the Tudor period. The chapters written by David Crombie cover highly technical and specialist information about materials, painting and drawing techniques, with such details as the analysis of the tree rings in the boards that the images were painted on.
The exhibition, held in 2003, displayed paintings of Henry VIII, some of his Tudor family, and drawings by Hans Holbein. It was interesting to me that there exist multiple portraits of Henry VIII all with almost exactly the same composition, painted throughout his lifetime and after his death. Why are they all so similar? Who painted them and what does the composition of the portrait tell us about Henry VIII and the history of Tudor England?
Xanthe Brooks puts forward a very interesting theory that the portrait painted by Hans Holbein and then copied over and over again, was a piece of profound historical propaganda and that this very image of Henry has continually influenced our modern perceptions of Henry's personality.
"The portrait is the anatomy of a ruthless tyrant. His barrel-chested figure, feet planted firmly apart, glares down at us with a bullying authority. Hands gem-studded with rings worn like knuckle-dusters frame his protruding, assertive codpiece. This is an iconic image of a King at the peak of his powers, but without any of his symbolic regalia.....Whilst being a realistic likeness, the portrait idealizes absolute monarchical power, an image of power personified in Henry's weighty flesh."
Hans Holbein was commissioned to paint Henry's portrait sometime around the time of his marriage to Jane Seymour, 1536. The original portrait was painted on the walls of Whitehall Palace, the main London Palace of the Kings and Queens of England, from Henry VIII's time through to the Stuart Kings, until it burned down in 1698. This incredible image would have been lost to us, if a copy hadn't been commissioned by Charles II. The original room-sized portrait had lifesize images of Henry VII and his queen, Elizabeth of York, and Henry VIII and his queen, Jane Seymour. It also has a lengthy Latin inscription which informs us that Henry VII was a great King but Henry VIII was even greater, because he rid England of Catholicism and set up the true Church of England. Bear in mind, I'm simplifying this archaic text, but I am following the reading of this historical monograph.
Through analysis of where the portrait was situated, Xanthe Brooks theorizes that it was originally in a room where only Henry VIII's inner circle of the Privy council was allowed - so an image that only 15-30 people would have seen. Thus it was originally intended to support and promote Henry's confidence and power within the ruling circle. Perhaps given he was busy tearing down over a thousand years of Catholicism, he might have needed some propaganda images to bolster his confidence and validate his actions. Over time, and as Henry VIII aged, he moved some of his ruling conversations to his private chambers and it becomes apparent that the epic Holbein portrait is seen by a wider range of people. Eventually, as we know from this excellent study, the image that Hans Holbein has constructed of Henry becomes copied over and over. The Latin inscription does not come with the reproduced images, but the swaggering pose, the aggressive male sexuality and fertility as represented by the prominent codpiece, and the frightening stare of his full frontal direct gaze are all reproduced. These qualities, that many courtiers at the time regarded as 'unseemly of a King' have gone on to be the very concept of the King.
Just as an aside before I finish this review, I particularly enjoyed the 18th and 19th Century portraits by Joshua Reynolds and Holman Hunt, of young aristocratic boys dressed up in Henry VIII costumes. It's worth finding this book just to have a look at these paintings.
The exhibition, held in 2003, displayed paintings of Henry VIII, some of his Tudor family, and drawings by Hans Holbein. It was interesting to me that there exist multiple portraits of Henry VIII all with almost exactly the same composition, painted throughout his lifetime and after his death. Why are they all so similar? Who painted them and what does the composition of the portrait tell us about Henry VIII and the history of Tudor England?
Xanthe Brooks puts forward a very interesting theory that the portrait painted by Hans Holbein and then copied over and over again, was a piece of profound historical propaganda and that this very image of Henry has continually influenced our modern perceptions of Henry's personality.
"The portrait is the anatomy of a ruthless tyrant. His barrel-chested figure, feet planted firmly apart, glares down at us with a bullying authority. Hands gem-studded with rings worn like knuckle-dusters frame his protruding, assertive codpiece. This is an iconic image of a King at the peak of his powers, but without any of his symbolic regalia.....Whilst being a realistic likeness, the portrait idealizes absolute monarchical power, an image of power personified in Henry's weighty flesh."
Hans Holbein was commissioned to paint Henry's portrait sometime around the time of his marriage to Jane Seymour, 1536. The original portrait was painted on the walls of Whitehall Palace, the main London Palace of the Kings and Queens of England, from Henry VIII's time through to the Stuart Kings, until it burned down in 1698. This incredible image would have been lost to us, if a copy hadn't been commissioned by Charles II. The original room-sized portrait had lifesize images of Henry VII and his queen, Elizabeth of York, and Henry VIII and his queen, Jane Seymour. It also has a lengthy Latin inscription which informs us that Henry VII was a great King but Henry VIII was even greater, because he rid England of Catholicism and set up the true Church of England. Bear in mind, I'm simplifying this archaic text, but I am following the reading of this historical monograph.
Through analysis of where the portrait was situated, Xanthe Brooks theorizes that it was originally in a room where only Henry VIII's inner circle of the Privy council was allowed - so an image that only 15-30 people would have seen. Thus it was originally intended to support and promote Henry's confidence and power within the ruling circle. Perhaps given he was busy tearing down over a thousand years of Catholicism, he might have needed some propaganda images to bolster his confidence and validate his actions. Over time, and as Henry VIII aged, he moved some of his ruling conversations to his private chambers and it becomes apparent that the epic Holbein portrait is seen by a wider range of people. Eventually, as we know from this excellent study, the image that Hans Holbein has constructed of Henry becomes copied over and over. The Latin inscription does not come with the reproduced images, but the swaggering pose, the aggressive male sexuality and fertility as represented by the prominent codpiece, and the frightening stare of his full frontal direct gaze are all reproduced. These qualities, that many courtiers at the time regarded as 'unseemly of a King' have gone on to be the very concept of the King.
Just as an aside before I finish this review, I particularly enjoyed the 18th and 19th Century portraits by Joshua Reynolds and Holman Hunt, of young aristocratic boys dressed up in Henry VIII costumes. It's worth finding this book just to have a look at these paintings.
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