Unknown artistFormerly unknown artist, sixteenth centuryafter Lucas de Heere, 1534–1584, Netherlandish
Title:
An Allegory of the Tudor Succession: The Family of Henry VIII
Date:
ca. 1590
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on panel
Dimensions:
45 × 71 3/4 inches (114.3 × 182.2 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1974.3.7
Gallery Label:
This image of the Tudor dynasty captures the revolution in church and state effected by Henry VIII. Adapted from a painting made by Lucas de Heere in around 1572, this later version by an unknown artist was made shortly after the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588), when only Elizabeth, shown in regal splendor, was still alive. The artist compares the apparent blessings of the English Reformation with the continued threat of a supposedly alien Catholicism. Henry VIII sits on his throne and hands the sword of state, symbolic of rule, to his son and heir, Edward VI. Figures of Peace and Plenty attend his Protestant heirs Edward VI and his sister, Elizabeth I; but it is Mars, the furious god of war, who serves Catholic Mary, and her Spanish husband, Philip II. The viewer is asked to choose which is the most desirable ruler and religion for a happy and prosperous Britain. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
