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.
