Henry VIII and the art of the Royal Supremacy

This study analyzes the relationship between art and politics at the English court in the 1530s when Henry VIII replaced papal authority over the English Church with royal supremacy. Underlying my study of Henrician political iconography is an examination of contemporary modes of viewing and reception as well as an analysis of the propagandistic potential of art in this period of Early Modern Europe.; The works of art considered include Henry VIII's well-known portrait by Holbein, created after the institution of the Royal Supremacy to demonstrate Henry's newly acquired omnicompetence. In addition to identifying the consolidation of Henry's official portrait type in the Holbein painting, my study also examines the political iconography of royal public displays, especially the coronation procession for Anne Boleyn. In what may be viewed as the definitive event of the break with Rome, Anne Boleyn was celebrated as the potential provider of a male heir to the Tudor throne. Mythological, biblical, and historical tableaux combining images with texts were set up along the traditional coronation route from the Tower of London to Westminster Abbey demonstrating to the masses who gathered there that the new marriage was in their best interest.; Also considered are the newly produced English bibles and their role in instructing the English people about the momentous change in ecclesiastical authority. The title pages of the bibles display radical depictions of Henry VIII's new central role in the dissemination of the Verbum Dei. By royal proclamation, the Great Bible of 1539 was ordered to be purchased by every parish church in England and set up for all to see. The powerful frontispiece image of the monarch was conceived to communicate Henry's new role as Supreme Head of the Church in England to a broad English viewership. This study also includes examinations of major Henrician commissions such as the heraldic choir screen in King's College Chapel, Cambridge and the decorative ceiling of the Chapel Royal in St. James's Palace, London which until this time have received little scholarly attention.