What made the Tudors look so cool?
Attention Wolf Hall fans, the latest exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, provides an immersive Tudor experience, no VR headset in sight.
Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023
Art can facilitate time-travel. That’s certainly what I was thinking as I peered into the same paintings that Henry VIII did. I leant in closer to examine Anne Boleyn’s double chin. Was struck by Lady Ratcliffe’s intense gaze – nobody knows who this femme fatal was, but I bet you’d recognise the drawing if you saw it. It’s part of ‘Holbein at the Tudor Court’, now showing at the Queen’s Gallery. A show that makes it seem Wolf Hall’s characters have come to life.
How accurate is Wolf Hall? I’m a late adopter – I started reading the book by Hilary Mantel last year and am about a third in. A Booker prize winner, it was turned into a theatre play nominated for eight Tony Awards, and then into a BBC tv series. It was among ‘The 10 best historical novels’ in 2012. But how much of it is history, and how much fiction?
Hans Holbein the Younger, Anne Boleyn, 1532–6. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023.
The book describes the rise to power of Thomas Cromwell within Henry VIII’s court just as the king is about to divorce his first wife to marry Anne Boleyn, Queen Elisabeth I’s future mum. Both the book and the series give the reader/viewer an intimate look at one of English history’s most pivotal moments. Can art bring you even closer? I think so – this exhibition is an immersive experience like no other, even if the technology was only cutting-edge 500 years ago.
Mantel gave us a detailed description of Holbein’s painting depicting Cromwell’s nemesis Sir Thomas More and his family. I was eager to see this work at the Holbein exhibition, but it wasn’t there – it does not exist, anymore. Still, there are detailed drawings of all his family members, and it is almost as though we experience the process of making that portrait. There were no instant cameras or iPhones then of course, but ‘snaps’ still had to be taken. Each character had an individual sitting with Holbein, who’d make a quick drawing of them in a position similar to what was envisioned for the final work.
Hans Holbein the Younger, Sir Thomas More, 1527. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023.
Sir Thomas More himself is here. Fierce look directed to our right. He has his usual hat on, furry collar around the neck. Not a hint of smile on his thin lips. This is a man of thought and purpose. I find it hard to like him after reading Wolf Hall. Maybe those historians were right: the book is dangerous, for making a very one-sided view of history come to life. There is a likeness of John More too – Sir Thomas’s son. He looks like a young romantic – his eyes glued to the book in his hands, fancy robes hiding his delicate frame. Mantel talks about him and other weak sons of strong men, she did not entirely invent them.
Then there is Anne Cresacre – a ward of Sir Thomas More and fiancée of John. In the book she is taken in by Sir Thomas for her money, to which she then has no access. Her ginger hair is accentuated by yellow trim on her headwear and dress – rare colourful accents on this chalk drawing. Are those sad eyes also translucent blue? These 500-year-old likenesses seem too good to be true. Was Holbein doing as much inventing as Mantel?
Sir Thomas More was among Holbein’s greatest patrons on his first trip to England, but it was Thomas Cromwell – Wolf Hall’s protagonist – who secured the artist’s position in Henry VIII’s court. A German-Swiss portraitist, Holbein was so influential that his image of the king remains the defining likeness to this day – even though the original burned in a fire. It’s been copied many times over. One such example is in the exhibition. Compare it to the miniature by Lucas Horenbout also on show. The king is looking sideways – just a man in a hat – the only detail separating him from mere mortals is the word ‘rex’ in golden letters. Holbein’s iteration – full frontal, eye directly at viewer, furs and golden chains all over, hand on belt – does not need ‘rex’ spelled out; it oozes power.
Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023.
Holbein could certainly draw a likeness. He did so in the intimate profile of Anne Boleyn, one of only a few – possibly a study for a miniature for Henry VIII’s eyes only. But Holbein could also create an image. The Royal collection of Holbein’s works offers useful insight into these drawing-to-painting transformations. A bit of retouching here and there, right pose, right skin tone – all contribute to a final image that is both recognisable and flattering.
Holbein is considered one of the greatest portraitists beyond his own time. His works are scattered all over the grandest museums, from Uffizi to Louvre and São Paolo to the Met. But there is one notable portrait missing from the Queen’s Gallery exhibition – that of Thomas Cromwell. For Holbein’s original, one must travel to New York’s Frick Collection. There’s a good copy on display at the National Portrait Gallery – a short walk across St James’s Park from the Queen’s Gallery. When I feel the Tudormania taking over me again – that’s where I’ll be going.