Henry VII (1457-1509). English school, 17th century

Henry VII (1457-1509). English school, 17th century

Oil on panel. Inscribed upper left HENRY. 7.  Height : 57.70 cm - Width : 37.20 cm. Price on application

Notes: Painted in the seventeenth century. Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, took over the English Crown after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, despite a relatively weak claim to the throne through his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort. His marriage in 1486 to Elizabeth of York, daughter and heir of Edward IV, unified the Houses of York and Lancaster and is visually represented in the red and white petals of the Tudor rose.

Our portrait type is derived from a mural in the Privy Chamber at Whitehall Palace by Hans Holbein, which was finished in 1537, but later destroyed by the fire of 1698. Holbein's original design is known through two seventeenth century copies by Remigius van Leemput (Royal Collection and Petworth House) as well as Holbein's preparatory cartoon. In Holbein's design, Henry VII is depicted standing behind his son, leaning on a plinth which is inscribed with the relative achievements of the first two Tudor kings, thus emphasising their dynastic linkage and validating their claim to the throne.

Similarly to the original mural, in our portrait Henry is shown wearing a gold gown with vertical slits in the sleeves, which is trimmed with ermine and fastened at the front with a large gold clasp set with table cut diamonds, rubies and pearls. The gown has a dark fur lining turned on the revers and is worn over a bright red doublet. Our sitter wears a blocked felt cap trimmed with a ruby set brooch encircled by more diamonds.

This image is a typical ‘corridor portrait' – a posthumous image of a monarch usually created as part of a set designed to furnish the long gallery of a late Elizabethan or seventeenth century country house. Such portraits emphasised the occupant's dynastic lineage with important historical figures, offering a useful lesson in British history as well as tasteful interior decoration

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After Hans Holbein the Younger and Remigius van Leemput, The White Mural, 1737. RL 13581. Royal Collection, © 2009, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Pen and watercolour with bodycolour. 45.7 x 57.3 cm. Probably purchased by George IV when Prince of Wales, in 1802

Holbein's most important project for Henry VIII was the mural he painted at Whitehall Palace in 1537 to demonstrate the Tudor lineage. This showed the King and Jane Seymour, with Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Henry's confident pose became the most recognised image of the King. The mural was destroyed by fire in 1698, but had been copied by Remigius van Leemput for Charles II. This watercolour is a copy of Leemput's painting.