Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon are once more side by side and at Lambeth Palace, of all places. Apparently many people thought for years and years that the above painting was supposed to be Katherine Parr, although the clothes are obviously from decades before Henry married her. I knew it was Katherine of Aragon. From
The Daily Mail:
For years it was assumed by staff at
Lambeth Palace that the oil painting hanging in a private sitting room
was of Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's sixth wife. But
when experts from the National Portrait Gallery went to the Palace -
the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury - to research a
portrait of an earlier archbishop, they were able to shed new light on
the matter. First, the
portrait was in a frame that pre-dated the rotund monarch's sixth wife,
second; her clothes were from an earlier period, and third, well, the
woman also bore a startling resemblance to Henry's first wife, Catherine
of Aragon.
Tests soon showed that they were
right, and now the gallery has hung the portrait of the devoutly
Catholic queen rather mischievously, side by side with a portrait of
Henry, whose desperation to divorce her was the catalyst for England's
schism with the Catholic church. The
'exciting discovery' about the picture was made when researchers from
the National Portrait Gallery went to Lambeth Palace to find out more
about William Warham, the Archbishop of Canterbury who married Henry
VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in 1509.
The
researchers, who were working on a project called Making Art In Tudor
Britain, noticed the painting on the wall of a private sitting room,
where it has hung since at least the 19th century but probably longer,
under the assumption it depicted Catherine Parr. (Read entire article.)
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| Young Henry VIII |
More on Katherine of Aragon in art,
HERE.
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| Young Katherine |
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| Young Katherine |
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4 comments:
That makes a lot of sense! I've never liked it as a portrait of Katherine Parr, but it's not my area of expertise. Now that I look at it, it does seem to make a lot more sense as Katherine of Aragon. Fascinating. She certainly bears very little resemblance to the lady every once thought was Jane Grey, but who was subsequently re-identified as Katherine Parr. It's all a bit like the portraiture version of musical chairs.
Yes, I don't understand how anyone could have thought it to be Katherine Parr. The gable headdress is from earlier decades.
I can remember one writer dating it to a portrait of her when she was Lady Latimer, which I suppose may have been trying to square the circle. But I agree; after Catherine Howard, the gable never did make another "comeback." There's actually quite a resemblance (especially around the mouth) to Katherine of Aragon, as she's shown in the Horenbout miniatures of her. Quite annoyed with myself that I missed that! Great link.
Gareth
Thanks, Gareth. The nose doesn't quite look like Katherine's but then the jewels look like royal jewels. There is a pinched look to the face which speaks to me of sorrow.
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