Portrait of Henry VIII

The great German portrait painter Holbein spent much of his life in England, employed by private patrons and the Court. Among his chief commissions for Henry VIII was a mural in Whitehall Palace showing the King and his wife, Jane Seymour, accompanied by Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The mural was destroyed by fire in the 17th century, but several copies of the section showing Henry VIII survive, of which this is probably the best. In this massive figure, sumptuously dressed, proud and defiant, Holbein created one of the most powerful and memorable images of kingship.