December 23: An Allegory of the Tudor Succession

Today's Tudor treat is this painting known as "The Family of Henry VIII: an Allegory of the Tudor Succession". It was painted by Lucas de Heere (1534-1584), a Flemish Protestant who came to England from Ghent in the 1560s, in Elizabeth I's reign.

The Museums of Wales website says of the painting: "This picture celebrates the harmony established by Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth is on the right, holding the hand of Peace and followed by Plenty. Her father Henry VIII, the founder of the Church of England, sits on his throne, and passes the sword of justice to his Protestant son Edward VI. On the left are Elizabeth’s Catholic half-sister and predecessor Mary I and her husband Philip II of Spain, with Mars, the God of War. The picture, a gift from Queen Elizabeth to Sir Francis Walsingham, exemplifies the 16th century's fascination with allegory, the Queen's vision of herself as the culmination of the Tudor dynasty and her concern with the legitimacy of her regime."

This copy is from the Yale Center for British Art and is thought to have been copied from Lucas de Heere's original in c.1590. The Yale Center says of the painting: "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."

Source: https://museum.wales/

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