King and Collector: Henry VIII and the Art of Kingship by Linda Collins & Siobhan Clarke

Author:Linda Collins & Siobhan Clarke [Collins, Linda & Clarke, Siobhan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Royalty, Art, History, Renaissance
ISBN: 9780750997096
Google: q84QEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: History Press
Published: 2021-04-01T06:00:00+00:00

A copy of the Whitehall Mural made during the reign of Charles II. The original was painted by Holbein in 1537 and destroyed by a fire in 1698.

All the palaces had brightly painted exteriors, perhaps garish to modern eyes, which would have made them look to us like Disneyland castles. The interiors were also richly decorated, with furnishings becoming even more splendid as one entered the king’s apartments. The presence chamber contained a throne and canopy of estate, and here the king would receive formal delegations from those entitled to come into his presence. Henry’s inner sanctum was the privy chamber, a private room beyond, to which access was strictly controlled. Few had right of entry to this magnificent room and its connected lodgings, where the king conducted his private life. It was staffed by senior courtiers, who attended to Henry’s personal needs: washing and dressing him, and serving his meals. The ‘privy chamber’ was thus also a term for this body of privileged staff, who included gentleman, ushers, grooms and pages. It is certain that the privy chamber at Whitehall would have been lavishly furnished with tapestries, floor carpets and a chair of estate, and it was here – at the heart of his power base – that Henry planned a painting that would dominate the room.

No contract survives for the Whitehall Mural, but it was commissioned in the short period between Henry’s marriage to Jane Seymour in May 1536 and her death in October 1537. Hans Holbein had painted the king before: a small picture on panel that is today in the collection of the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum in Madrid and is the only portrait of Henry VIII bearing the artist’s signature. But the Whitehall painting was on an entirely different scale and would become the standard likeness of Henry VIII. The commission was probably requested when Queen Jane became pregnant. It measured 3m x 4m, and portrayed Henry with Jane and his parents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, grouped around a marble plinth. By painting the figures on to the wall, Holbein added them to the fabric of the building, as a splendid backdrop to the king’s physical presence in the chamber. It is likely that Henry’s intention was to leave a lasting statement, devised in the year that his expected son would be born, and painted after the most difficult year of his reign.

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