Rarely seen Tudor court drawings

Nigel, thanks so much! It looks like the exhibit will be there through April 14, 2024 so I will be able to visit. That is very exciting!

Thanks for this, Nigel, but ARGGGG! I've been fascinated by Holbein portraits for years and won't be able to see this exhibit! I wonder if there was a wee bit of liberty taken with Philip I of Castile's portrait?

"The exhibition opens with a painting of Philip the Handsome, which seems generous to the rather plain looking man, until you turn around and see what the other European Royals looked like. The inbreeding within Europe’s royals was profound, and it allowed plain Philip to be handsome Philip ....."

Pretty sure Fair Philip had at least some version of the 'Hapsburg Jaw". You can see it in portraits of his grandfather Frederick III, his father Maximillian I, his son Charles V, and on and on it went.

Kathy, I'm sure you know that Holbein was noted for flattering his subjects in their portraits, which is probably why he was so popular. 😊 For example, Nigel's article discussed how Holbein made Derich Born's face look thinner than it actually was.

Recent conservation and research (on display in a side room) have uncovered the many layers of paint showing how Holbein originally painted a rather chubby face and then progressively slimmed him down.

I guess portrait painters have to eat, too, and it pays to keep your subjects happy with your work.

Just as an aside, right by me in Hackney is the former site of Henry VIII's hunting lodge, Brooke House.
https://www.royalpalaces.com/palaces/brooke-house-hackney/

It's been gone since just after the war, damaged by bombing.
On the subject of WWII bombing, I had long noticed how the houses in my street stop just short of the main road. There's some grass on one side and a post-war single storey house on the other. bombsight.org launched a few years ago, and from the map I was able to deduce that my street took a direct hit between October 1940 and June 1941.

Here's the details of the bomb that took out Brooke House - http://bombsight.org/bombs/26513/

re: Kathy's reference
Pretty sure Fair Philip had at least some version of the 'Hapsburg Jaw". You can see it in portraits of his grandfather Frederick III, his father Maximillian I, his son Charles V, and on and on it went.

Interesting Smithsonian Magazine article about same:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/distinctive-habsburg-jaw-was-likely-result-royal-familys-inbreeding-180973688/

the reason I linked the article was because of the many photos which help tell the story. Maybe they give a little solace to Holbein lovers who won't be able to be here....

For sure, Nigel! Even if I can't see the exhibition in person, it's so interesting to see some of those rare, wonderful sketches!

Yep, I knew the artist was said to flatter his subjects but I have to think that was allowed only to a point? For instance, his portrait of her husband's favorite wife, Jane Seymour, illustrates her as definitely "no great beauty", just as described by a contemporary.

As well, her new husband railed less about an allegedly enhanced portrait of wife #4 than what he disliked when they met in person: her initial rejection of his rude (to her) advances, her unfashionable (to him) dress, less-than-petite stature, lack of fluency in English, etc. Still, contemporaries reported her to be of "middling beauty" with fair hair and "good visage" and not a radical departure in appearance from Holbein's painting. Whatever the case, it was the king's minister who lost favor and his head over the bridegroom's disappointment and not the artist. BTW, it took us three visits to the Louvre to finally track down that portrait!

Just noodling 'cuz the topic seems to have opened a conversation. :O)