Portrait of Henry VIII
c. 1537 · Oil on oak panel · Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
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About this work
- Artist
- Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543)
- Year
- c. 1537
- Medium
- Oil on oak panel
- Original size
- 28 × 20 cm
- Collection
- Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
- Movement
- Northern Renaissance
Henry VIII, in his mid-forties, faces the viewer almost head-on against a deep blue ground, his broad shoulders filling the small panel; he wears a black cap with a white plume and jewels, a gold collar, and a silver doublet slashed and studded with gems under a fur-lined coat, with heavy rings on his fingers. Holbein, who entered the king's service in the mid-1530s, painted it in about 1537, the period of his lost Whitehall Palace mural of the Tudor dynasty, which fixed the king's image for posterity. This small portrait, only 28 by 20 centimetres, is generally regarded as the only painted portrait of Henry by Holbein's own hand to survive. As the museum notes, the frontal pose, the sense of distance and the placing of the hands convey the king's power as head of both state and church. It may have been in Henry's own collection but appears in no royal inventory. It belonged to the Earls of Sutherland and then Spencer, and in 1934 it was acquired for the Thyssen collection. It hangs in the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A broad, frontal king in silver, gold and black fur against vivid blue, small and commanding, for a study, library or hallway at 16×24 in black. A deep blue, charcoal or warm stone wall; it pairs with Charles I at the Hunt.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Northern Renaissance painting
- Era
- 16th century (c. 1537)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- intimate
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room, dorm room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Portrait of Henry VIII in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Portrait of Henry VIII painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
