If you’ve been to Hampton Court Palace, you will be familiar with the beasts of the Palace which are copies of those carved to celebrate Henry VIII’s marriage to Jane Seymour in 1536. These wonderful beasts were used in heraldry and the slideshow below is an illustrated presentation by Patrick Baty who acted as a consultant to Hampton Court Palace on how the Royal Beasts of King Henry VIII might have been painted.
It is interesting to see how these sculptures came straight out of Seymour heraldry, Tudor heraldry and the King’s emblems and what colour they would have been if they had been painted. Enjoy!
(Use the cursor on the right hand side to scroll through the pictures)
The King’s Beasts at Hampton Court Palace
Thanks so much to Rochie for letting me know about this slideshow!
It is a wonderful piece of research. They must have been magnificent to see at the time. We forget how much colour there was in Tudor times – even all that lovely wood panelling inside the palaces was often painted, they say.
I love the way the beasts just hold up the shields with the coats of arms – all proud and ‘showie-offie’. They just didn’t do ‘modesty’ in those times did they!
Thanks for posting this, The use of color certainly makes the images more bold and prominent. I never realized the colors had faded over time.