LEEMPUT, Remigius van
(b. 1607, Antwerpen, d. 1675, London)

Henry VII, Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII, and Jane Seymour

1667
Canvas, 88,9 x 98,7 cm
Royal Collection, Windsor

Van Leemput made a copy of Holbein's mural of the Tudor dynasty painted in 1537 (much praised by van Mander) on the instructions of Charles II. The picture was later destroyed in the Whitehall fire of 1698. The picture showed full-length, life-size figures of Henry VII, founder of the dynasty, and his son Henry VIII, together with their wives Elizabeth of York and Jane Seymour. The picture shows them standing in an ornate Renaissance-style hall around a stone block, the inscription on which extols the virtues of the two kings.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 5 minutes):
Camille Saint-Saens: Hénri VIII, Scene and Henry's aria