Welcome to the list of new Tudor portraits.
This page only lists new
portraits of the Tudor monarchs and their immediate relatives.
'Portraits
of Tudor Nobility' is another new page;
please visit it to view
portraits of Tudor courtiers and extended family.
Most of these images are quite beautiful and rare.
Elizabeth I,
c.1580s
John Bettes the Younger
Anne
Boleyn
John Hoskins
This is a
lovely miniature portrait of Anne Boleyn, featuring the famous 'B' pendant
necklace.
Katharine
Parr
Lucas Horenbout
This is a
rare minaiture portrait of Henry VIII's sixth and last wife. Katharine
appears younger than in the Scrots portrait.
Katharine
Parr, c1545
William Scrots
This
is a new scan of the most famous portrait of Katharine. I meant to rescan
this a long time ago; I'm glad it's finally done. It's a beautiful
portrait.
Katharine of
Aragon
Lucas Horenbout
This is a
new scan of the Horenbout miniature of Henry VIII's first wife.
Anne
Boleyn, 17th century
Frans Pourbus
This portrait is a lovely interpretation of Elizabeth I's mother, painted a
century after her death. It places great emphasis upon Anne's most
celebrated feature, her beautiful eyes. It seems that, with the exception
of the disputed Holbein sketches, she looks quite different in every portrayal.
I actually prefer these romanticized portraits to the ones made during her
lifetime.
The increasing romanticization of her image was largely the result
of her daughter's phenomenal popularity. The attendant decline of
Catholicism also gave Anne newfound status as Henry's legitimate wife. By
contrast, I've come across very few romanticized portraits of Katharine of
Aragon during or after her daughter's reign; the ones I have found are
black-and-white etchings.
Margaret
Tudor
unknown artist and date
Margaret was Henry VII's eldest daughter; her marriage to the king of
Scotland eventually led to the union of England and Scotland upon Elizabeth I's
death in 1603.
Katharine of
Aragon, c1525-26
Lucas Horenbout
This is the largest miniature of Henry VIII's first wife. Three other
miniatures exist, but two are circular copies of this original; the third is
believed to be a companion piece to a miniature of the king. A unique
feature of this work is that it includes Katharine's hands; all of Horenbout's
other miniatures focused on the head and shoulders. All of his portraits
(see below to view others) have plain blue backgrounds and are traced with a
gold line. Later artists such as Nicholas Hilliard inherited this style
and continued it into the 17th century.
Edward VI,
c1547
unknown artist
The
inscription on the frame reads:
EDVARDI SEXTI ANGLIE, FRNCIE ET HIBERNICE
REGIS VERA EFFIGIES EO PRIMV TEMPORE QVO REGIA CORONA EST INSIGNTUS, AETATIS
SVE, IO, ANO 1549
The date inscribed on the frame (1549) must be incorrect;
the inscription itself states the portrait was painted in Edward's 10th year,
when he was crowned king of England (1547.)
This is a less formal portrait
of Edward. It was originally believed to be Holbein's
work, but he died in 1543 and there are marked stylistic differences.
It has occasionally been attributed to Guillim Scrots as well; he worked at the
English court from 1549 to 1553. But this is clearly not his work, as can
be seen when compared with the only portrait of
Edward which we known for certain he painted.
The young king's pose and
clothing are rather different from other portraits. Most notably, he does
not wear the collar of the Order of the Garter.
Portrait of Anne
Boleyn, c.1520s
Lucas Horenbout
This is a rare miniature portrait of Anne Boleyn in her mid-twenties, before
she became queen of England. Horenbout also painted miniatures of Henry
VIII's other wives.
Henry Fitzroy, duke of
Richmond
illegitimate son of King Henry VIII
miniature portrait by Lucas Horenbout
Jane Seymour, queen
of England
third wife of King Henry VIII
miniature portrait by Lucas Horenbout
Anne of Cleves,
queen of England
fourth wife of King Henry VIII
miniature portrait by Hans Holbein
King Henry
VIII
king of England from 1509 to 1547
unknown artist, c1509
Rescanned Portraits:
These
portraits have long been available at the site, but I've recently begun to scan
them again.
The 'Rainbow Portrait' of Elizabeth I, c1600
'The Execution of
Lady Jane Grey'
19th century history painting by Paul Delaroche
Crop from 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey'
Queen Mary
I
queen of England from 1553 to 1558
portrait by Hans Eworth, 1554
Lady Jane Grey or
Katharine Parr
portrait by Master John,
c1545
The date and sitter are debatable.
The 'Ditchley
Portrait' of Queen Elizabeth I
by Marcus
Gheeraerts the Younger, c1592
Lady Jane
Grey
Willem and Madgalena van de
Passe
This engraving hangs at the National Portait Gallery,
London.
Arthur, prince of
Wales, c.1500
Anglo-Flemish school
In this portrait Arthur holds a white gilliflower, a symbol of purity and
betrothal.
It is believed that King Charles I owned this portrait.
It is
probably the only contemporary portrait of Arthur, and numerous copies were
based upon it.
Two Portraits of Mary I, c.1555-58
Portrait
One - Portrait
Two
Hans Eworth (H.E.)
The first
portrait was painted a bit later than the second, since Mary's face has aged
slightly. In her right hand, she holds a document; in 1890, 'The
Supplicate....' was found to be written upon the paper but that is not
discernible now.
The second portrait was probably painted after Mary's
betrothal to Philip of Spain, since she is wearing jewels he gave her.
The
heavy gown indicates that it was painted in winter, and the pose is reminiscent
of Holbein's portraits during Henry VIII's reign. Compare it to portraits
of Anne of
Cleves and Christina of
Denmark.
Elizabeth
I, c.1565
British school
This
portrait is very interesting - an almost medieval composition dating from the
first decade of Elizabeth's reign.
The entire portrait - including the frame
- is made from a single piece of wood.
The book is reminiscent of the earliest-known portrait of Elizabeth,
c.1546.
The existence of this portrait was only discovered in 1994, when it
was made available for sale.
The inscription at the bottom of the frame is
supposedly Elizabeth's reply to a Marian priest when questioned about Christ's
presence in the Sacrament -
'Twas God the word that spake
it,
He took the Bread and brake it;
And what the word did make it;
That I believe, and take it.'
Elizabeth
I, c.1580s
Marcus Gheeraerts the
Elder
In this portrait, the queen is the harbinger of peace - she
holds an olive branch in her left hand and a sheathed sword is at her
feet. This portrait is quite similar to the 'Ermine Portrait' painted
around the same time. She is possibly wearing the same headdress, collar
and girdle. Also, both gowns are 'Polish style' (with froggings.)
This is Gheeraerts' only oil portrait.
Queen
Elizabeth I Feeds the Dutch Cow, c.1585
Anglo-Flemish school
This is one of several portraits
depicting the Netherlands as a cow manhandled by foreign powers (notably the
Hapsburg emperors.) In this portrait, Philip II of Spain is trying to ride
the cow (blood is flowing beneath the spurs.) The duke of Anjou, the
Netherlands' hated - but necessary - French ally is trying to pull the cow
forward. Prince William of Orange ('the Silent') is holding the cow by the
horns while Elizabeth I feeds it. William desperately sought English help
against the Hapsburgs.
The man milking the cow is either the duke of Alva,
or the earl of Leicester.
(This portrait is a bit blurred - I will re-scan
it soon.)
Mary, queen
of Scots, c.1615
Nicholas Hilliard
This portrait was identified as Mary, queen of Scots, in the 18th century.
Is it Mary? Some people dispute this claim, others support it.
The
inscription 'Virtutis Amore' is an anagram of the name 'Marie Stouart.'
The
style and costume indicate it was made as a memorial portrait after Mary's
execution in 1587.
