King Henry VIII, 1597-1618

King Henry VIII (1491–1547) acceded the throne in 1509, at eighteen years old, and went on to firmly establish the Tudor family as the ruling dynasty in England. Perhaps best-remembered for his six marriages, Henry’s reign was characterised by ambition abroad and ruthlessness at home. The pressure to provide the realm with a male heir caused Henry to seek to annul his marriage to his first wife Katherine of Aragon. This led him to break with the Catholic Church in Rome and establish himself as head of the Church in England in place of the Pope.

With the possible exception of his daughter Elizabeth I, no English monarch has matched Henry VIII’s ability to control his public image and impose it on posterity. This work is part of an important set of sixteen portraits of early English kings and queens, from William the Conqueror (1027–1087) to Mary I (1516–1558). Portrait sets celebrated the hereditary claim of the reigning monarch – in this case probably Elizabeth I. Henry VIII’s likeness is based on a portrait by the artist Hans Holbein the Younger.

National Portrait Gallery, London Purchased, 1974
© National Portrait Gallery, London