Panel Painting Henry VII (Masters)
Object number
LDSAL332
Production date
1520-1540
Material
oak
oil paint
oil paint
Technique
Oil On Panel
Dimensions
height: 355mm
width: 275mm
width: 275mm
Location
Burlington House -
Oil on oak panel portrait of Henry VII. The half-length portrait depicts the monarch with gaze turned towards his left, pale grey hair worn long, appearing from under a black hat with badge. Henry VII holds a red rose in his right hand.
Henry VII (1457–1509; reigned 1485–1509) is seen bust-length, with head and gaze turned towards his left in a version of a much replicated portrait image, which here shows him with markedly paler grey hair but otherwise standard details, such as the black hat with a badge supporting three pendant pearls and a red rose in his right hand. He wears a fur-lined coat over a cloth-of-gold undergarment, also lined with fur. Thomas Kerrich described this portrait in his collection as ‘a very weak picture but original and extremely curious’.
This painting is a version of the portrait type established c 1500 of which the Society’s somewhat older work, Henry VII (cusped) (LDSAL 329), of c 1501–9, is an early example. As with the Society’s earlier portrait, infrared examination revealed evidence of the use of the copying technique known as ‘pouncing’. (Pouncing involves the artist pricking holes around the outline of the preparatory drawing before laying the drawing over another surface and blowing charcoal, chalk dust, or similar, over the holes to transfer a trace outline to the surface beneath).
This painting is a version of the portrait type established c 1500 of which the Society’s somewhat older work, Henry VII (cusped) (LDSAL 329), of c 1501–9, is an early example. As with the Society’s earlier portrait, infrared examination revealed evidence of the use of the copying technique known as ‘pouncing’. (Pouncing involves the artist pricking holes around the outline of the preparatory drawing before laying the drawing over another surface and blowing charcoal, chalk dust, or similar, over the holes to transfer a trace outline to the surface beneath).