The Real Face of King Henry VIII: What did he really look like?
Hello everyone and welcome to Royalty Now, where we bring you face to face with figures from the past. Scroll down for the re-creations!
King Henry VIII is an infamous figure in English history, famous for his six wives and the extreme lengths he went to in order to divorce the first - changing religion in England forever.
His reputation looms large in history - and so do his portraits. Today, we’ll dive into Henry’s appearance and reveal some lifelike re-creations, so let’s get started.
For the full video with living re-creations, visit us here.
Terracotta bust of a child, said to be Henry VIII at age 7.
Prince Henry of England was never intended to be the King. He was born in 1491, the second son of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.
However, at just the age of 10, Henry’s older brother Arthur died, thrusting all of his duties and unfulfilled potential on the young prince.
We may have one early glimpse at the face of a young Henry. This kind of creepy terracotta bust of a smiling seven year old child is reportedly an image of Henry.
The coloring certainly matches - Henry was known to be a lovely child, with his gold red hair and fair complexion the gift of his mother, Elizabeth of York. We can also see similarities in the small eyes, plump cheeks and button nose that appear on later portraits of the King.
While the identification of his bust is tenuous, it was only a few years after this image was made that Henry learned he would someday be king.
In 1509, Henry married the beautiful young Catherine of Aragon - who we just investigated in our last post - at the age of 18.
The next portrait in the timeline of Henry’s life is this one, by Mynnart Wewyck, painted the same year as his wedding. It looks distinctly different from images of Henry later in life.
Portrait of Henry at age 18, painted around the time of his wedding to Catherine of Aragon.
Notably, he has a weaker chin, larger eyes, and darker, curlier hair than versions painted later. Whether this is due to the absence of propaganda - Henry was not yet King and may not have had as much control over his image - or just early Tudor artists not being very skilled, is up for debate.
Six years later, in 1515, Henry assumed the throne after the death of his father, and his reign - and image - began in their full glory.
In the beginning, Henry was seen as England’s new renaissance ruler. Virtuous, handsome, and brimming with new ideas for education and religious reforms. His court was bright and loud - filled with dancing, jousts, and court pageants.
This is when we start to get ample descriptions of England’s new king:
Venetian Ambassador Giustinian wrote in 1515 that Henry was “most excellent in his personal endowments, and likewise gifted with mental accomplishments,”
Henry could speak multiple languages, play numerous instruments, even writing his own music. The Henry of his youth was a much, much different man from the tyrannical King that came later.
A contemporary description from 1515 called the King “Above the usual height, with an extremely fine calf to his leg”
At 23 years old, he was around 6’2” and 200 pounds, with a muscular frame with a broad chest. Keeping him in good shape was his love of sport - everything from hunting, jousting, tennis, and archery.
It was remarked that he had “a round face so very beautiful that it would become a pretty woman.” and that “He is much handsomer than any other sovereign in Christendom”
For much of his life, Henry wore his bright auburn hair “combed straight and short, in the French fashion”, and wore a short beard that one observer described as “looking like gold.”
One of the more realistic looking portraits of Henry, made when he was about 40 years old by Joos van Cleves.
His wardrobe was sumptuous, adding to his overall splendor. Henry loved clothes and hardly ever wore the same garment twice. The fabrics, dyes and jewels used to make them were internationally sourced and imported just for him. A venetian ambassador called him the “Best dressed sovereign in the world”
Unfortunately, we don’t have any life portraits of Henry from the prime of his life, with the exception of this version by an unknown artist, painted as a pair with his wife, Catherine. Just like the version of Henry at 18, this portrait lacks realism and looks cartoonish. One reason for this is that it may be what’s known as a pattern portrait.
According to the National Portrait Gallery, who analyzed the underdrawing layer, an original image of the king was traced and then painted over. To produce large quantities of portraits of the sovereign, artists studios would share patterns between them. Each one certainly lost something of the original, like playing a game of telephone with Henry’s face. Therefore, we can’t rely too heavily on this as a true image of Henry.
It’s around the 1530s that we get the most lifelike portraits of Henry, showing his small blue eyes, long, slightly hooked nose, small mouth, and round face. This portrait by Joos van Cleve is one of my favorites. Henry would be about 40 years old here.
And then, the master of portraits, Hans Holbein stepped into the picture. In 1533, he began his royal service as the court painter for the Tudors. His artwork greatly elevated portraiture from the time.
One of the most accurate, and renowned, portraits of King Henry by Holbein has been lost to history. We only know of its existence through preparatory sketches and copies made by other artists.
The massive, life size portrait, which was a family image depicting Henry, his parents, and his wife at the time, Jane Seymour, burned down with Whitehall Palace in 1698.
It’s thought that this image was the genesis of the classic, propaganda portrait of Henry VIII, where he stands tall and imposing, facing the viewer square on, in his huge cloak and obvious codpiece. In fact, Henry was never quite this tall - measurements from his suits of armor indicate that his legs were lengthened quite a bit in the portrait.
The only painting of Henry VIII surviving today that was made by Hans Holbein himself.
The only image of Henry that we have directly from the hand of Hans Holbein is this version, from 1536.
This Henry - in his early 40s - is our last glimpse of England’s Renaissance Prince.
Around the time this portrait was made, Henry suffered severe injuries in a jousting accident. The King was left unconscious for multiple hours, many fearing that he wouldn’t survive.
Whether it was the existential crisis of a near-death experience, or the physical damage to his brain, when he awoke from his unconsciousness, he was a changed man.
His leg wound ulcerated and would never fully heal, for the rest of his life. Still continuing to eat and drink like he used to, with little to no activity, Henry soon gained a massive amount of weight.
By his 50s, he was almost 400 pounds. He was also nearly bald - carefully hiding his head under hats in every portrait. Suit of armor from 1544 showing his size (doesn’t look as big as I thought it would actually).
Evolution of his suits of armor: https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/14zmbn3/evolution_of_henry_viiis_armors_over_a_period_of/
After this accident, we have no more life portraits of Henry VIII. Just copies of the lost originals, churned out to the people of England as propaganda reminders of their once-beloved King.
So, let’s take a look at some re-creations of Henry, from his handsome youth, to his later years, now. For the young version, I’m using the features of the lifelike 1530s images and aging them down slightly, so we can get an image of Henry in his prime.
So, let’s take a look at some re-creations of Henry VIII, now:
Henry VIII brought to life as a young man.
Henry VIII brought to life as an older man.
