Circle of Hans Holbein the Younger 1497/8-1543

Possibly 'A catalogue of my Lo Marquesse^s Pictures', Hamilton MS M4/21 (an inventory of six hundred painting packed in forty-four cases)-'Kinge Henry 8th', in 'The thirty one case';
Possibly 1704 inventory of the items at Holyrood:-'square picture of King Henry 8th a half length by Holbin';
Possibly 4th September 1793 inventory of items at Holyrood, no.185 'Henry the 8th' (in First Picture Closet)

This fine portrait of Henry VIII is an early derivaton of Holbein's celebrated image of the king as depicted in the Whitehall Mural painted for Whitehall Palace in 1537.  The mural was destroyed when the palace was burnt in 1698, but its composition is known from a seventeenth century copy made for Charles II by Remigius van Leemput (Royal Collection) and from the surviving left hand portion of the artist's original cartoon (National Portrait Gallery, London).  The mural depicted the king standing full length in a strikingly powerful pose, and it is from this image that all subsequent portraits of the king were derived.  The composition included the king with Henry VII and Elizabeth of York together with his wife Jane Seymour.  Jane Seymour died in the year that the mural was painted having already provided the king with a son to succeed to the throne.

Holbein's second visit to England in 1532 was of immense importance since it was in this year that the king took the decisive steps to establish his supremacy over the Church.  In Holbein the king found an artist who could create a new image of kingship to emphasise his new position as head of the church.  The present portrait faithfully reflects the power of Holbein's original.  The wide shoulders of the king and the powerful effect of his face which looks straight out from the canvas create an image of an all-powerful monarch.

This fine portrait came from the distinguished collection of the Dukes of Hamilton, and is likely to have hung at Holyroodhouse (of which the Dukes of Hamilton are Hereditary Keepers) and at Hamilton Palace. It is not known when the portrait entered the collection, and it is possible that it passed directly from the sitter to his brother-in-law, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, whose descendant William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas, married Anne Duchess of Hamilton. Alternatively it could have been owned by the great collector and Royalist supporter James, 1st Duke of Hamilton, who is recorded as owning two portraits of Henry VIII (see below).