How Portraits Painted Tudor Monarchs

Hello there, and welcome back to another art history blog post! Last time we looked into art from the Middle Ages. Today we are going to look at the period that came after, but not the broad Renaissance, but narrow our scope and look at England. We will specifically look at what art was like under the Tudor dynasty that reigned England form 1485 to 1603. This dynasty started with Henry the 7th and ended with Elizabeth the 1st.

The Tudor dynasty offered a time of transition for England. We see the transition from the War of Roses which was a civil war between two rival factions of the royal Plantagenet family to what became a semi-stable ruling royal family of Tudor. We also see the transition away from the Catholic Church and Rome after Henry the 8th split from them in 1534.

Portraiture in Tudor England not only became one of the most popular art forms, but was used as a tool by Tudor monarchs to legitimize their reigns and showcase their dynastic power. Symbolism was used throughout these monarchrical portraits, especially in the portraits of Elizabeth the 1st. Commissioning royal portraits became the norm for Tudor monarchs.

Also a popular form of art, similarly, was miniatures, which were small portable paintings, that could fit in a person’s hand. These were usually gifted among family, friends, and lovers. They were more intimate than a full scale, public painting. They were designed for a private viewing and were often a window into a person that couldn’t be often offered by a manufactured large scale painting.

Tapestries were also a popular art form for a time in the Tudor period. Henry the 8th loved them an had around 200! Many of which he personally commissioned. Because of his love for this art form, embroidery was often popular until the Elizabethan period because Elizabeth the 1st preferred portraiture and so the popularity of tapestries declined in popularity.

Now that we’ve discussed some of the more popular art forms of the Tudor period, let’s take a look at the monarchs that make up the Tudor dynasty.

To start off we’ll talk about Henry the 7th, as he is the first Tudor monarch. Henry the 7th took the throne by force during the War of Roses. He took it after he defeated Richard the 3rd in battle in 1485. Henry ended the War of Roses when he married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of King Edward the 4th who ruled before his brother Richard the 3rd. When they married they combined the houses of Lancaster and York who had been opposed and were the two factions warring with each other. With this union, was the uniting of the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York to combine to make the red and white Tudor rose symbol. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a seamless union, as both sides still both were tense with each other. Henry and Elizabeth were said to actually grow to love each other and had many children together. They had 8 children! Henry had to suppress many rebellions during his rule and to better protect his dynasty in the making, he sought to secure alliances with other countries in Europe. He best did this by arranging marriages for his children with other houses in Europe. The most notable being the alliance he secured with Spain through his eldest son and Catherine of Aragon. Unfortunately, Arthur would die shortly after him and Catherine wed. Catherine would later Henry the 8th when he ascended the throne. Another notable marriage arranges was that of his daughter Margaret to King James the 4th of Scotland. He did this in an attempt to keep peace between the two countries. Henry the 7th helped secure these marriages by commissioning portraits to send off and receive of marriage prospects. Henry would later do this to try to secure his own marriage when he commissioned his own portrait. Unfortunately, he didn’t have another marriage.

After Henry the 7th passed, his son Henry the 8th became King. Before he became the tyrant we know today, he was said to be one of the most cultured Kings in Europe. Henry was crowned in 1509. And though his reign he focused on legitimizing his rule and he focused this by trying for a male heir. Henry is famous for having multiple wives in this pursuit, even beheading two of them! His 3rd wife, Jane Seymore, did give him his wished for son, Edward the 5th but unfortunately, Jane ended up dying shortly after. Edward would be Henry’s only legitimate son. Henry also has two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Mary is the daughter of his 1st wife, Catherine of Aragon, and Elizabeth was the daughter of his 2nd wife, the famous Anne Boylen. Unfortunately, Anne was one of his beheaded wives, wrongfully committed of adultery. Henry divorced and exiled Catherine to another of his palaces. With this divorce and his marriage to Anne, he broke away from the Catholic Church in 1534, appointing himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England. During this time, many Protestants fled to England to avoid persecution in other parts of Europe. This included the famous artist Hans Holbein the Younger(a. 1497-1543) who would go on to paint many of Henry’s portraits and the portraits of his court. He also infamously painted Henry’s 4th wife, Anne of Cleves and quite the scandal when he flattered her more in the painting than she had looked in real life. Henry would go on to have 6 wives by the time he reached the end of his life(I highly recommend you look into them!). Henry died in 1574 and his son Edward would then take the throne at just about the age of 9.

Edward the 5th, unfortunately would have a short reign, not even reaching adulthood. Edward would reign for 6 years, dying at age 15 from illness. But during his brief time as king, Edward wanted to continue the work of his father, continuing to keep England Protestant. During this time, tensions began to tense more between Protestants and Catholics and so Edward suppressed Catholic uprisings. Edward commissioned many portraits during his brief reign, many of which to help the Protestant cause. In some of his own portraits, Edward dawns the same strong stance that was seen in his father’s portraits. This showcased a strong succession, though unfortunately this didn’t turn out to be the real case. In one portrait of Edward, he is painted in an older style of the side profile view. This was a similar style to what you’d seen on coins of monarchs.

Following the death of Edward the 5th, his sister Mary the 1st was crowned queen. Mary was a ferment Catholic and looked to revert England back to Catholicism. Mary was crowned in 1553. In a portrait of Mary in 1553, you can see her wearing a cross that had been worn by her mother, Catherine of Aragon. Mary had to present a different image as a female monarch in a male dominant world. She wanted to appear strong and Catholic to her people. Mary dealt with Protestant uprisings, many of which who wanted to put her sister Elizabeth on the throne instead of her. Because of this, she locked Elizabeth in the Tower of London. Mary also dealt with the issue of marriage. It was quite the pressure, as in that time, many expected that any man she married would hold some control of rule. If she married abroad, then in some eyes, she’d be putting another country above England, and on the other hand, if she married someone who was English, she would be marrying below her station which also was bad in other eyes. Ultimately, Mary decided to marry Phillip the 2nd of Spain. Phillip was the son of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles the 5th and Isabella of Portugal and he would later inherit his father’s Spanish Empire in 1556. This cemented that Mary intended to make England Catholic and rejoin them with the Catholic church. She burned Protestants at the stake, making many who had came to England for safety from persecution, flee for the same reason. Mary earned the nickname of “Bloody Mary” because of this. Though, Mary actually didn’t execute as many people as some of her predecessors did in the name of religion, with her father and brother executing far more. Mary’s reign came to an ed shorty after it began when she died childless with illness.

Following Mary the 1st’s death in 1558, her sister Elizabeth the 1st became queen and would go on to rule for about 45 years, one of the longest reigns of the Tudor dynasty and even one of the longest reigns in British history. Elizabeth also faced the challenge of being a female monarch in a male dominated world. Because of this, Elizabeth executed immense control over her public image. She was famously nicknamed, “The Virgin Queen” ad she remained unmarried and childless. Because of this, Elizabeth was the final monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Elizabeth vetted her painters, only allowing the ones that fit her agenda of painting her as a young and strong queen always. Even as her reign continued into her older years, she only allowed paintings of her that showcased her as young and beautiful. During her reign, symbolism in paintings became more prominent than it had been in the past. Sometimes it outweighed realism of the portrait. Elizabeth was much more tolerant of both Protestants and Catholics in her reign. She focused more on ushering England into a “Golden Age”. One filled with exploration and expansion. England before Elizabeth wasn’t the world power we would later know. It was small and often at the mercy of others. But after England defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, England was seen in a more powerful and respected light. After Elizabeth’s long reign, she died in 1603 without her own heir. She appointed her rival Mary, Queen of Scots son, James as her heir and he became James the 1st of England, and was also king of Scotland, finally bringing peace to both countries. James would begin the Stuart dynasty.

The work of Susannah Horenbout

Along with interesting monarchs, the Tudor period also had many interesting artists who worked under them. As we discussed earlier Hans Holbein was quite a prominent artist in the court of Henry the 8th. But there were others! Susannah Horenbout(a. 1503-1554) was a female painter who worked in portraiture. She worked alongside her brother Lucas Horenbout(a.1490-1544) who was a painted miniatures. Susannah is regarded as being the first female artist in England. She worked under Jane Seymore, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Parr(Henry the 8th’s 6th wife), and Mary the 1st.

The work of Levina Teerlinc

Another celebrated female artist was Levina Teerlinc(a. 1510-1576) who painted miniatures. She earned a salary from the crown, which is said to be more than that of Holbein! She got her salary from when she started working in court in 1546 until her death. Levina worked under Henry the 8th, Edward the 5th, Mary the 1st, and Elizabeth the 1st.

The work of Meynnart Wewyck

Meynnart Wewyck(a. 1502-1525) worked under some of the beginning monarchs of the Tudor dynasty, working for both Henry the 7th and Henry the 8th. He also worked for James the 4th of Scotland. He completed the first portrait of an English monarch when he painted Henry the 7th in 1505.

The work of Nicholas Hilliard

The final artist we will look at today was more than an artist. He was also a teacher. Nicholas Hilliard(a. 1547-1619) was one of the most influential miniature painters who tutored artists like Rowland Lockey(a. 1565-1616), Isaac Oliver(a. 1565-1617), and John Bettes the Younger(a. 1570-1616).

Thank you for journeying through Tudor England with me! This is currently a favorite period to learn about for me so I am so happy yo share what I’ve learned with you! At some point, we will dive into the Renaissance period as a whole as it is filled with so much art and how can an art blog that writes about art history, not write about the Renaissance?