The “Real” Face of Henry VIII
Angie Powell (57) and her husband Rhodri (56) have been living
in their 500-yr. old Tudor style home for the past 3 years. The
house itself is near Taunton, Somerset and was once the summer
home of Thomas Cranmer the first Archbishop of Canterbury in
the Church of England, and Henry’s right hand man. This past
January the couple decided they had grown tired of looking at the
dreary wooden planks on one 20 ft. wide by 10 ft. high wall. So
they decided it was time to remove them.
As the planks came down they discovered wallpaper was behind them. Upon removing the wallpaper,
they found a layer of chipped plaster so they
called in a ‘conservation plasterer’ to repair
the plaster. What he found were these eyes
peering back at him from beneath the
plaster. Mrs. Powell stated it this way,
“when we saw the eyes appear out of the
plaster it was a real moment”.
Henry’s eyes disclosed something else. It
was long known that as a young man he participated in jousting and was twice injured. The first time he
failed to put down his visor on his helmet. His opponent’s jousting lance entered the helmet above
Henry’s right eye knocking him unconscious and leaving permanent eye damage. The second jousting
accident left him unconscious with his horse falling upon him. Other ailments he endured were smallpox
at the age of 23, open varicose ulcers on both legs, malaria that returned periodically, and in his later
years a rumored case of syphilis. British historians believe that the amiable young man, became a cold
murdering tyrant in his later years after suffering a lifetime of ailments.
The common artistic image we are familiar with of Henry as healthy and abundant in size was painted by
a German artist named Henry Holbein. This was the artistic style of the day in the 1530s and one that
must have pleased Henry’s damaged ego. But the real face of Henry VIII now
can be seen for the first time since 1534 AD when the wall mural was actually
painted in the Powell’s home.
Thomas Cranmer (portrait left) as the original owner of this house was devoted
to Henry so much that he was able to serve as judge and jury over Henry VIII’s
wives. The mural was clearly approved by Henry himself and acted as a
reminder to all of the Anglican ministry that gathered to conference within the
walls of this house. A point to remember is that if it was not an accurate portrait
of the king, Thomas Cranmer himself would have been beheaded.
But instead, Cranmer was to outlive Henry VIII.
(continued on Page 6)
(continued from Page 5)
The “Real” Face of Henry VIII
It is believed at this time that the wall
mural painting was done c.1534 AD by
a still unknown artist. The only other
known mural ever painted of Henry VIII
was painted in the palace of Whitehall,
and that was destroyed when the palace
burned down in the 16th century.
In the painting, Henry sits upon his
throne with a crown on his head and a
scepter and cross in his hands. His face
is thinner as is he himself (contrary to
Holbein’s portraits). The size and detail
of the mural has even astounded the
experts. Conservator Ann Ballatyne
stated: “This is quite special. I’ve not
seen anything like it and I’ve been
working on wall paintings since 1966.
I’ve not seen anything as magnificent as
this”.
Michael Liversidge of the History of Art
department at Bristol Universit y
described the discovery as “enormously significant, stunningly exciting and of national importance”.
From an Irish perspective this is what Henry VIII truly looked like when he brought his scheme of
“Surrender and Regrant” to the Irish regional kings in the 1530s. By convincing them to turn title to
their lands over to him, they became English earls and barons allowing him to call himself, the ‘King of
Ireland’. Most of the Irish, however, under this scheme suffered loss of their ancient homelands.
Angie & Rhodri Powell no longer have the privacy they once enjoyed.
Nowadays, people from the Royal Museum, the press, the public and
neighbors stop by to view or work on the painting. They feel Henry
VIII is staring down at them constantly. They know too their Tudor
house is of historical value and the large wall mural is irreplaceable.
In late February 2011, two American archaeologists asked the Queen
for permission to exhume Henry VIII and use the latest techniques to reconstruct his face. Catrina
Whitley (bioarchaeologist) and Kyra Kramer (anthropologist) hope to verify the king’s portraits by
measuring his skull for facial reconstruction; and to do DNA testing on him for rare diseases such as
schizophrenia. To date, Queen Elizabeth II has yet to respond to their request.
(Photo credits:© BBC, SWNS.com, Alamy)
©2011 Ken Hannon Larson, Teach Tábhairne Fógra. All Rights Reserved.