ABSTRACT
Henry VIII is the most celebrated and most notorious of English monarchs. This is mostly because of the misadventures of his later life, when he led England into one of Europe’s oddest Reformations and, in the process, went through six wives in just over a decade. However, before he became an icon of lust and religious egomania, Henry had already carefully cultivated an image as the ideal Renaissance king. He is remembered today not only for his wives but also for his portraits: Hans Holbein’s images of Henry’s potato-face remain instantly recognisable. This was not an accident. Attracting people like Holbein – a German portraitist who had first made his name painting Erasmus – was what Henry’s court was designed to do, and his portraits defined what Henry’s kingship aspired to be. Henry VIII was the first English king to have a full-length portrait painted: never before had the royal legs been depicted. This was Henry Tudor, athlete, musician, poet, lover, hunter and scholar. The whole of his being was a part of his kingship.
