WINDSOR CASTLE

Historical Interpretations: Evaluating Sources at Windsor Castle, Teachers' Notes These notes are designed to complement our A level session in the beautiful State Apartments at Windsor Castle. You will find details of the portraits and objects referred to in the session that are on display. All details are extracted from collections online and can be easily found using the RCIN number as a search tool: www.royalcollection.org.uk

Edward IV (1442-83) Oil on panel | RCIN 403435 This is one of the five earliest paintings surviving in the Royal Collection. The others depict Henry V, Henry VI, Richard III and Elizabeth Woodville. Recent dendrochronological (tree-ring) analysis indicates that this panel was painted between 1524 and 1556, which is later than the Henry V, Henry VI and Richard III panels. It was possibly made in order to join this set of royal portraits and is listed with them in the 1542 inventory of the contents of Whitehall Palace. This is slightly different in format from RCIN 403442, 403443 and 403435. Painted on a wider panel, it has a striped background which probably indicates that it was made in a different artist’s workshop. The Yorkist king is shown in head and shoulders view wearing a black cap and a richly brocaded gown. He holds a ring in his hands, which probably has royal significance. The artist is unidentified but would probably have been either British or Flemish, working at the Tudor court. Originally the painting would have been in a gilded, engaged frame which has been dismantled at some point in the painting’s history. It is now displayed in a Twentieth-century reproduction Tudor frame.

Henry V (1387-1422) Oil on panel | RCIN 403443 This is one of the five earliest paintings surviving in the Royal Collection. The others are Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and Elizabeth Woodville. Recent dendrochronological (tree-ring) analysis indicates that this panel was painted between1504-1520. It would have been part of a set of heads of kings and queens either commissioned by Henry VII or Henry VIII. The portrait shows the

king in side profile, possibly indicating that it derives from a medal, the portrait effigy of the king from Westminster Abbey (stolen in 1546) or from a donor portrait of Henry V perhaps as part of a religious altarpiece. This image, with the profile head set against a patterned background, became the standard format for later sixteenth-century versions. The artist is unidentified but would probably have been either British or Flemish, working for the royal court. Originally the painting would have been in a gilded, engaged frame which has been dismantled at some point in the painting’s history. It is now displayed in a Twentieth-century reproduction Tudor frame. First recorded in the 1542 and 1547 inventories of Henry VIII and Edward VI.

Henry VI (1421-71) Oil on panel | RCIN 403442 This is one of the five earliest paintings surviving in the Royal Collection. The others are Henry V, Edward IV, Richard III and Elizabeth Woodville. Recent dendrochronological (tree- ring) analysis indicates that this panel was painted between 1504-1520. It would have been part of a set of heads of kings and queens either commissioned by Henry VII or Henry VIII. Henry VI is shown in a head-and-shoulders view against a patterned background. He wears the collar of the Lancastrian order of SS from which hangs a jewelled pendant. The rings on his hands probably have royal significance. Originally the hat was taller and narrower, but was lowered, probably at the time of painting, to conform to a more typical 16th-century style. This may indicate that the early sixteenth-century artist was following an existing pattern, possibly in the form of a drawing which may have been taken from life. Other later versions, such as that in the National Portrait Gallery, follow this lower form of the hat. The flesh on the face is heavily overpainted, but traces of the original underdrawing can be discerned by the naked eye. The artist is unidentified but would probably have been either British or Flemish, working for the royal court. The painted spandrels at the corners of the painting contain the arms of France and England. Originally the painting would have been in a gilded, engaged frame which has been dismantled at some point in the painting’s history. It is now displayed in a Twentieth- century reproduction Tudor frame. First recorded in the 1542 and 1547 inventories of Henry VIII and Edward VI.

Richard III (1452-85) Oil on panel | RCIN 403436 This was part of a set of early portraits recorded in Henry VIII’s collection (including Henry V, Henry VI and Edward IV). Recent dendrochronological (tree-ring) analysis indicates that this panel was painted between1504-1520. It would have been part of a set of heads of kings and queens either commissioned by Henry VII or Henry VIII. The artist is unidentified but is most likely to have been either British or Flemish, working for the royal court. The portrait was not painted from life, but was probably created by an artist following an original drawing or painting. The King is

shown in a head and shoulder view, set against a patterned background. He wears a jewelled gold chain and an elaborate jewelled brooch in his cap. He places a ring onto the little finger of his left hand; the rings probably have royal significance. Shortly after its creation, or perhaps during the creation process in order to ‘complete’ the image, the outline of the King’s right shoulder (the left shoulder as we look at the painting) was extended upwards in an arch from the elbow to the neck so that one shoulder was made to seem higher than the other, creating the impression of a hunched back. It has been suggested that the artist may have turned the corners of the sitter’s mouth downwards to make the facial expression seem severe and possibly altered the colour of the eyes from brown to steely grey (for more information on this see J. Scott 'The Royal Portrait: Image and Impact', London 2010). This depiction of Richard III served as the prototype for many later copies of the portrait which were popular from the later sixteenth-century onwards, when long galleries adorned with sets of royal portraits became fashionable in private houses. The gold painted spandrels in the upper corners contain monochrome profiles of a crowned man and of a woman. Originally the painting would have been in a gilded, engaged frame which has been dismantled at some point in the painting’s history. It is now displayed in a twentieth- century reproduction Tudor frame. First recorded in the 1542 and 1547 inventories of Henry VIII and Edward VI.

Henry VIII (1491-1547) Oil on panel | RCIN 404438 This portrait is a very early derivation of Holbein’s original portrait of Henry VIII, painted in 1537 on the wall of the Privy Chamber at Whitehall. The wall painting provided the source for many portraits of the King. This portrait may have been painted during Henry VIII’s lifetime, and is still close in technique to Holbein. It is possible that the head is derived from a sitting later than that which formed the basis of the wall painting. The Royal Collection holds a copy after the lost Whitehall mural by Remigius van Leemput, painted in 1667 (RCIN 405750). First recorded at Kensington Palace in 1818

Mary I (1516-58) Oil on panel | RCIN 404442 Three-quarter-length portrait of Mary I (1516-58), facing slightly to the left, seated in a chair, holding a book in her left, and her gloves in her right, hand. On the edge of the hanging behind her are woven the initials MR. Painted soon after her marriage to Philip II of Spain in 1554, Mary is shown wearing a dark velvet gown and matching partlet concealing her shoulders and neck, in keeping with modest styles in Spain at this date. She also wears the diamond pendant from which hangs the 58.5 carat La Peregrina pearl, a betrothal gift from the Spanish king.

According to one courtier, Mary I ‘seem to delight above all in arraying herself elegantly and magnificently’. The painter Anthonis Mor (1519-75) was born in Utrecht and worked in Antwerp, Italy, Spain and Portugal. In 1554 he was commissioned to paint a portrait of Mary I which was sent to Philip II of Spain as part of the marriage negotiations. The original portrait by Mor is in The Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. The popularity of the portrait meant that many versions of it were painted, of which this one. Possibly purchased by Queen Caroline (consort to George II). First securely recorded in the Royal Collection in 1851.

Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley and his brother Charles Stewart, Earl of Lennox 1563 Oil on panel | RCIN 403432 Henry Stewart was 17 and Charles 6 when this portrait was painted, according to the inscription. Henry had only 4 more years to live. Through his grandmother, Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, Darnley had claims to the English throne and his mother was keen to arrange his marriage to the young Mary Queen of Scots (1542-87). In February 1565, 2 years after this painting was made, Darnley travelled to Edinburgh and attended the Scottish Queen, dancing a flirtatious galliard with her. Sir James Melville thought him ‘liker a woman than a man’ and ‘beardless and baby-faced’ but Mary described him as ‘the properest and best-proportioned long man that ever she had seen’. They were married at Holyrood chapel on 29 July 1565 and Darnley was proclaimed King of Scotland. The marriage was unhappy, however, and Mary turned increasingly to her Italian secretary, David Rizzio. A group of disaffected nobles involved Darnley in a plot to kill Rizzio, who was murdered in the presence of the pregnant Queen on 9 March 1566. On 19 June 1566 Mary and Darnley’s son, James, the future James I of England, was born. Towards the end of 1566 Mary and her lords of council met to discuss the ‘Darnley problem’ seeking ‘the means that your majesty shall be quit of him without prejudice to your son’, according to a contemporary record. Early the next year, a group of nobles, led by Lord Bothwell, laid gunpowder in the cellar of his home and blew it up. The bodies of Darnley and his servant were found under a tree in the garden, apparently suffocated while trying to escape. Beside them were a chair, a dagger, a coat, and a cloak. Darnley was 21 years old. He was buried in the vaults of the royal chapel at Holyrood. Henry holds a white embroidered handkerchief and his gloves, and has a gold ring on his little finger. He wears the tight-fitting doublet and pumpkin-shaped trunk-hose particularly fashionable for adults at this date. A watch and key hang by a black ribbon round his neck. Charles Stewart retains the skirts worn by infant boys. Young boys wore dresses until they were 'breeched' (given their first outfit which included breeches or trousers) usually some time between the ages of 4 to 8 years old. Both outfits are constructed of black fabrics, their textures enlivened through the use of tiny pinked cuts in the surface. Lord Darnley’s ruff and cuffs are of pure white linen – a sign of cleanliness in both body and mind, while those of the younger brother are decorated with blackwork embroidery. The painting was probably made for the boys’ parents. It is recorded in the Queen’s Gallery at Greenwich in 1639: ‘upon the right light in little at length the king’s grandfather with his brother

… in his coat in a perspective chamber wherein a green table’. The painter’s monogram, HE, can be seen on the legs of the table. After the execution of Charles I it was valued at £6 and sold, but recovered after the Restoration and hung at Whitehall. There are slight pentimenti (changes made by the artist) in Lord Darnley’s legs, in the right hand of Charles and in the left outline of his ‘coats’. There are also traces of carved decoration under the present ceiling in the interior in the background. The artist appears to have referred to a print by Vredeman de Vries in Scenographie (1560), for the interior backdrop of the painting. De Vries (1527-1606) trained in Amsterdam but later moved to Antwerp. Hans Eworth was listed as ‘Jan Euworts' in 1540 as a freeman of the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp (St Luke was the patron saint of painters), but by 1545 he had moved to England where he remained until his death in 1574. As well as working for the Office of Revels, designing sets and costumes for Elizabeth I’s court entertainments, Eworth also produced complex allegorical and religious works. Eworth was the principal court portrait painter during the reign (1553–8) of the Catholic Queen Mary Tudor and received the large majority of his portrait commissions from Catholic patrons. In 1572, after the death of the Serjeant-Painter, who would customarily have been in charge of royal festivals, he was called in to design decorations and costumes for the celebrations in honour of the arrival of ambassadors from France. Signed on the table: HE (in monogram); inscribed on the bottom: THES BE THE SONNES OF THE RIGHTE HONERABLES THERLLE OF LENOXE AD / THE LADY MARGARETZ GRACE COVNTYES OF LENOXE AD ANGWYSE, / 1563 / HENRY SETARDE LORD DAR: / LEY AND DOWGLAS, AETATIS, 17, / CHARLES STEWARDE / HIS BROTHER, AETATIS, 6, Thought to have been painted for the boys' parents and thus probably passed by descent from their mother to her grandson James I

Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses 1569 Oil on panel | RCIN 403446 Important figures at court were often portrayed in the flattering guise of mythological gods. Elizabeth I is Paris in this re-telling of the beauty contest ‘The Judgement of Paris’. The original myth saw Venus as victor over her rivals Juno and Minerva. Here, Elizabeth I keeps the prize (an orb instead of an apple) for herself, symbolising her triumph over the illustrious goddesses. Signed and dated lower right: 1569 / HE The painting is in its original frame which has the contemporary inscription: `IVNO POTENS SCEPTRIS ET MENTIS ACVMINE PALLAS / ET ROSEO VENERIS FVLGET IN ORE DECVS / ADFVIT ELIZABETH IVNO PERCVLSA REFVGIT OBSVPVIT PALLAS ERVBVITQ VENVS'. Translated as: 'Pallas was keen of brain, Juno was queen of might, / The rosy face of Venus was in beauty shining bright, / Elizabeth then came, And, overwhelmed, Queen Juno took flight: / Pallas was silenced: Venus blushed for shame'. We know that this remarkable painting belonged to Elizabeth herself because a visitor, Baron Waldstein, saw it at Whitehall Palace in 1600. The artist divided the painting into the real, contemporary world on the left and the allegorical world of goddesses on the right. On the left, the Queen stands on the steps and is emerging through a classical arch from a royally decorated interior containing a frieze with the Tudor arms and a canopy embroidered with her own arms. On the far right is the chariot of

Venus drawn by swans. The building in the background is thought to be the earliest painted representation of Windsor castle. This is the only known portrait of Elizabeth I wearing gloves. She is known to have been particularly proud of her elegant hands and used gloves as a sign of favour, removing them to allow a courtier to kiss the royal hand or presenting them as gifts. The goddess Venus on the right has discarded her linen smock, the layer of clothing worn closest to the skin. Unlike the goddess, this garment is not an invention of the artist, demonstrating many of the features seen on surviving smocks of the period, such as bands of embroidery in coloured silk thread. Hans Eworth was listed as ‘Jan Euworts' in 1540 as a freeman of the Guild of St Luke (St Luke was the patron saint of painters) in Antwerp, but by 1545 he had moved to England where he remained until his death in 1574. As well as working for the Office of Revels, designing sets and costumes for Elizabeth I’s court entertainments, Eworth also produced complex allegorical and religious works. Presumably painted for Elizabeth I or presented to her as a gift from a courtier

Edward VI (1537-53) 1546-before 28 Jan 1547 Oil on panel | RCIN 404441 This portrait was probably completed not long before the King's accession on 28 January 1547. The young prince wears a russet satin gown with hanging sleeves, trimmed with velvet, embroidered with gold thread and lined with lynx fur. The jewel around his neck is decorated with the coronet and feathers of the Prince of Wales. The classical interior includes a column with a carved roundel at the base depicting a horseman and inscribed MARCVS. CVRCIVS. ROMAN[VS] ('Marcus Curtius, Roman'). A deer park can be seen through the window on the left, with Hunsdon House, Hertfordshire in the distance. Prince Edward was in residence at Hunsdon from May to July 1546. According to George Vertue in 1734 the picture was 'originally only done to the knees, but since of late added at top something, and at bottom more to make the leggs & feet. but so ill and injudiciously drawn...'. These additions had disappeared by 1813 and the panel seems to have been cut down on all sides at some time. The artist was also responsible for the portrait of Edward's half sister, Princess Elizabeth (RCIN 404444). Stylistically the two portraits are very alike; the panels are constructed in a similar way and may have come from the same tree. It is most likely that the painter of these two works was William Scrots, a Flemish artist who was employed by Henry VIII from 1545 until 1553. The painting was inscribed at a slightly later date: Edwardus Sextus Rex / Angliae (Edward the Sixth King of England). Probably painted for Henry VIII

Elizabeth I when a Princess c.1546 Oil on panel | RCIN 404444 This painting is the finest and most compelling portrait of Elizabeth I before her accession. It conveys her beauty, dignity, gentleness and learning. Although it was probably painted for her father, Henry VIII, it is first recorded in the collection of her half-brother, Edward VI, where it is described as ‘the picture of the Ladye Elizabeth her grace with a booke in her hande her gowne like crymsen clothe’. In 1547 Princess Elizabeth sent a portrait of herself to her brother (the future Edward VI)

accompanied by a letter. This was probably not this particular portrait, but the sentiment in the letter indicates the princess’ attitude to having her portrait painted. She described the portrait as ‘the outwarde shadow of the body’ and expressed a wish that her ‘inwarde minde’ could be more often in her brother's presence. The piety of this ‘inwarde minde’ is conveyed in this portrait, where the simplicity of the princess’ pose is enriched by the inclusion of two books. The smaller book probably alludes to the New Testament, and the larger book to the Old Testament. The princess's costume is meticulously painted, drawing attention to the richness of the fabric of her dress and jewellery.

This portrait seems to be a pair to one of Edward VI (RCIN 404441). The style is similar and the wooden panels on which the works are painted derive from the same tree. It has been suggested that the painter of these two works was William Scrots, an artist from the Netherlands who was employed by Henry VIII from 1545 and remained on the royal payroll until the accession of Mary I in 1553. Probably painted for Henry VIII. First recorded in the 1547 inventory of Edward VI.

Armour garniture of Henry VIII for the field and tilt probably about 1540 RCIN 72834

An armour garniture consisting of a close helmet with integral gorget-plates (piece of armour protecting the throat) and a fall (and originally also a falling buff, 16th Century armour for the throat and lower face), a gorget, a breastplate with skirt and tassets (upper thigh protection) permanently attached, a backplate, a culet (protects small of back or buttocks), complete legharness, asymmetrical pauldrons (shoulder protection) with removable haute-pieces (upstanding neck guard attached to the pauldron), complete vambraces (piece of armour covering the lower arm from the wrist to the elbow) the left one both for field and tilt, a grandguard (a reinforcing piece of armour, attached to the left side of the breastplate and covering the left shoulder, upper arm, left side of the breastplate, and left side of the visor), designed for use in the tilt. A pasguard (a plate reinforcement for the left elbow of armour for the joust) and a manifer (a plate defense for the lower part of the left arm and hand, usually constructed in one piece and designed for the joust).

To allow for the King's increasing girth, the backplate of the armour has been extended by 5.1 cm at either side by the addition of plain plate secured with rivets. Cylindrical studs under the arms designed to receive the hasp projecting from the breastplate have also been adjusted twice: by about 2.2 cm on the first occasion, and a further 3.2 cm on the second. Two tournaments were held by Henry VIII in the latter part of his reign, and this armour may have been made in preparation for one or other of these tilts. The first was held on 11 January 1540, to celebrate the King’s short-lived marriage to Anne of Cleves, and the second for the May Day tournaments of 1540 which took place over four days and included tilts, tourneys and foot combats over the barrier. The armourer Erasmus Kyrkenar (or Kirkener), a man of presumed German origin, is first recorded in an English royal bill of 10 February 1518. On 5 November 1519 he was appointed armourer for the King’s body at an annual salary of £10. By 1539 he had replaced Martin van Royne as Master Workman in charge of the royal workshops at Greenwich, although van Royne stayed on a higher salary, perhaps as a consultant. The period of Kyrkenar’s mastership was probably the most innovative in the life of the Greenwich workshops. He died at Greenwich in 1567, and was succeeded by John Kelke. The armour was transferred from the Tower Armouries to Windsor Castle by command of King George V in 1914. The grandguard and pasguard, which were held separately at the Tower, followed in 1956, as did the fall in 1957. For many years the helmet was converted into a visored close helmet, for purposes of display, by the removal of its fall and the addition of a visor from Henry VIII’s Greenwich garniture of 1540.

Please note, artworks are sometimes taken off display for conservation reasons or loaned to external exhibitions and therefore may not be on display at Windsor Castle at all times.

All descriptions and images available at collections online: www.royalcollection.org.uk