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Notes
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To commemorate the strength and triumphs of the Tudor dynasty, Henry VIII commissioned from Holbein a wall-painting for Whitehall Palace, that was completed in 1537. The immediate impetus for the commission may have been the birth or the expectation of the birth of Henry's son Edward, later Edward VI, in October 1537. The mural may have been in Henry's Privy Chamber and therefore have had a select, restricted audience rather than being an image of wider propaganda. This very large drawing is the preparatory drawing or cartoon for the left-hand section of that wall-painting and shows Henry with his father Henry VII, the founder of the dynasty. The right-hand section showed Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour (1509?–1537) and his mother Elizabeth of York (1465–1503).
The cartoon is executed on several sheets of paper joined together. The figures and faces of the kings are cut-outs pasted on to the backing paper. The cartoon is exactly the same size as the finished painting and was used to transfer Holbein's design to its intended position on the palace wall. To do this the cartoon was pricked along the main outlines of the composition and then fixed in the intended position on the wall. Chalk or charcoal dust was then brushed into the holes made by pricking, thus transferring the outline to the wall. Holbein could then proceed with filling in his design.
National Portrait Gallery, London
London
Title
Henry VIII and Henry VII
Date
c.1536–1537
Medium
ink & watercolour on paper
Measurements
H 257.8 x W 137.2 cm
Accession number
4027
Acquisition method
accepted in lieu of tax by HM Government and allocated to the National Portrait Gallery, 1957
Work type
Drawing
National Portrait Gallery, London
St Martin’s Place, London, Greater London WC2H 0HE England
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