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Notes
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Henry VIII succeeded his father Henry VII in 1509. He is well known for his six marriages and for ordering the dissolution of religious houses which took place between 1535 and 1539. Aided by his ministers, Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell, his reign was characterised by ambition abroad and ruthlessness at home. His quest for a male heir and a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon led to his establishing himself as head of the Church in England in place of the Pope in 1535. This portrait shows Henry VIII in his mid-forties when he had already begun the process of dismantling monasteries and religious houses and had executed his second wife Anne Boleyn and the Bishop John Fisher. The portrait derives from a type established by Hans Holbein the Younger, held in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.
Title
King Henry VIII
Medium
oil on copper
Measurements
H 27.9 x W 20 cm
Accession number
157
Acquisition method
Purchased, 1863
Work type
Painting