Hans Holbein the Younger's 1536-37 portrait of Henry VIII, painted as part of a dynastic mural for the Palace of Whitehall showing the King beside his father Henry VII, his wife Jane Seymour and his mother Elizabeth of York. Henry stands with legs spread and arms braced, in the pose of a wrestler, dressed in gold-worked, jewelled costume, an image designed to project youthful power rather than record his true appearance; he was in his forties and recently injured in a jousting accident when it was painted. The original mural was destroyed in the 1698 Whitehall Palace fire and survives only through copies, most completely Remigius van Leemput's 1667 copy. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Rights and Reproduction
Reproduction and CopyrightSourced to the subject's own accountThis composition, especially Henry's frontal stance and face, became the single most copied and adapted image of the king, reproduced and reworked so often in later paintings, prints and decorative art that it standardized how Henry VIII would be pictured for centuries, far outlasting the burned original mural itself. 1 Classification
Object TypeSourced to the subject's own account Medium (class)Sourced to the subject's own account Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Derived: this work depicts a figure already recorded as belonging to this tradition; the work-to-tradition link is inferred from that live depicts edge and the figures own attested tradition affiliation, not independently sourced beyond it.
Depicts
The mural's sole royal subject, its best known and most reproduced image of Henry VIII.
Source Portrait of Henry VIII (Wikipedia)
Additional Source Hans Holbein the Younger (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Authored By
Also in Arts and Music Atlas: the author of this subject.
Sources
1. Portrait of Henry VIII (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section, on the portrait reputation
It is one of the most iconic images of Henry VIII and is one of the most famous portraits of any English or British monarch.
catalogue record, medium/object-type description
Hans Holbein the Younger's 1536-37 portrait of Henry VIII, painted as part of a dynastic mural for the Palace of Whitehall showing the King beside his father Henry VII, his wife Jane Seymour and his mother Elizabeth of York.
- In Group: Royal and State Portraits, lead paragraph describes the work as an official/state portrait of the king
View the Source Hans Holbein the Younger (Wikipedia)
WikipediaDepicts: Henry VIIIQuote, Depicts: Henry VIII
The mural also depicted Jane Seymour and Elizabeth of York. It was destroyed by fire in 1698.
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