The portraits of English royalty form rather a separate category in his work. Somewhat surprisingly he did not enter the royal service until 1537, but his potential seems to have been recognized by Thomas Cromwell, whom he painted in 1534. Although Holbein created a standard type for portraits of Henry VIII, only one portrait of him is now accepted by all scholars as being from Holbein's own hand. This painting (Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid) was almost certainly the pair to the portrait of Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife (The Hague, Mauritshuis).
Henry married six times. As with virtually all royal marriages of the period, it was not a matter of personal preference or love but of dynastic and political needs. Yet Henry's dealings with his wives differed from those of other princes at the time in that he divorced two of them (Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves). and had two of them executed (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard). Jane Seymour died after the birth of the future Edward VI, while Catherine Parr outlived him.
Holbein not only created the official image of Henry VIII, which has kept its hold on the popular imagination until the present day, but also captured the whole atmosphere of the Tudor court as it passed through one of the most dramatic periods of English history.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 3 minutes): Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Marche en Rondeau |
Summary of paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger |
1515-19 | 1519-25 | altarpieces | 1526-28 | 1529-31 |
1532-35 | Ambassadors | Henry VIII and his family | 1536-43 |
drawings and woodcuts | miniatures | Miscellaneous works |