Doppelporträt König Heinrich VII und König Heinrich VIII

King Henry VIII; King Henry VII

In 1537 Holbein painted life-size portraits of King Henry VIII, his third wife Jane Seymour (who gave birth to the long awaited male heir, the future Edward VI), and his parents King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The composition was inspired by Holbein's 1533 portrait of two French ambassadors to the English court, also displayed here. Instead of shelves of objects Holbein included a tablet praising the achievements of the new Tudor dynasty.

A small painted copy records Holbein's work, destroyed when Whitehall Palace was burnt down in 1698. But part of Holbein's full-scale preparatory drawing or cartoon still survives, showing Henry VIII and Henry VII. Made up of several sheets of paper glued together, the outlines of the drawing show small prick marks. These were used for transferring the design to the wall, probably with the aid of a bag of charcoal powder scattered through the holes.