Henry VIII: Man and Monarch is the summer exhibition at the British Museum.
The problem facing anyone seeking the man is the ubiquitous authorised magnificence of Henry. The approved, carefully symbolic state portraits. There seem to exist no affectionate sketches of him off duty.
So how was the BM going to show me the humanity behind the image?
Well, by bringing together for the first time a stunning collection of manuscript after exquisite manuscript. Many of these are annotated by Henry himself.
Included is his much-handled illuminated prayer roll illustrating Henry’s simple devout faith. Also, sketches for a very early PR exercise - The Field of the Cloth of Gold - show the detailed planning and no-expense spared mentality behind Henry’s well-documented desire to be taken seriously in Europe.
The BM persuaded the Vatican to release a fascinating letter, hand-written by Henry, setting out his intention to marry Anne Boleyn. Amazing artefacts, but nothing we didn’t know.
But then, in a little cabinet is a sample of his mother’s handwriting. Next to it is an example of Henry’s signature which we’ve seen again and again in other displays. The explanatory note states Henry wrote the letter ‘r’ as a ‘z’. This wasn’t typical of the day, and the only other person who seems to have done this is his mother, Elizabeth of York
And so here at last is the sense of a Henry we didn’t know and wouldn’t have suspected. Unlike most royal or aristocratic children, he was taught to read by, and so we can assume, brought up by, not a team of scheming uncles or advisors, but by his own mother. Henry the statesman, Henry the general, Henry the beheader of wives started life as a much-loved little boy at his mother's knee learning to write.
The problem facing anyone seeking the man is the ubiquitous authorised magnificence of Henry. The approved, carefully symbolic state portraits. There seem to exist no affectionate sketches of him off duty.
So how was the BM going to show me the humanity behind the image?
Well, by bringing together for the first time a stunning collection of manuscript after exquisite manuscript. Many of these are annotated by Henry himself.
Included is his much-handled illuminated prayer roll illustrating Henry’s simple devout faith. Also, sketches for a very early PR exercise - The Field of the Cloth of Gold - show the detailed planning and no-expense spared mentality behind Henry’s well-documented desire to be taken seriously in Europe.
The BM persuaded the Vatican to release a fascinating letter, hand-written by Henry, setting out his intention to marry Anne Boleyn. Amazing artefacts, but nothing we didn’t know.
But then, in a little cabinet is a sample of his mother’s handwriting. Next to it is an example of Henry’s signature which we’ve seen again and again in other displays. The explanatory note states Henry wrote the letter ‘r’ as a ‘z’. This wasn’t typical of the day, and the only other person who seems to have done this is his mother, Elizabeth of York
And so here at last is the sense of a Henry we didn’t know and wouldn’t have suspected. Unlike most royal or aristocratic children, he was taught to read by, and so we can assume, brought up by, not a team of scheming uncles or advisors, but by his own mother. Henry the statesman, Henry the general, Henry the beheader of wives started life as a much-loved little boy at his mother's knee learning to write.
300 words
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REally charming, heart-warming stuff. The last two paragraphs are absolutely lovely and present a memorable point. Not a great BM fan myself, but you make me think about going to this one. And all in exactly 300 words. I don't know what you cut,but you can't see the join!
ReplyDeleteOh please don't go, Alison. I went in the summer with my daughter cos she's doing History A Level. The exhibition finished in September. I'd hate you to schlepp down to the BM and just be surrounded by a load of dusty books with not a Tudor in sight! Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great piece. A really gentle 'must-read-to-the-end' review of an event.
ReplyDeleteNB when you are writing features or an article about something - especially a show or exhibition etc, you must remember to say when it is on and when it ends. Otherwise you will have people happily heading off to see it on the back of reading your article and not so happily arriving to find it has finished. Your credibility is at stake.
I like the tone of this and the fact you have managed to capture one particular aspect of the exhibition in your 300 words. You have teased out the human side yet have given an overview of the exhibition without resorting to masses of description. Also, you introduce the reader right at the start to the reason behind your piece 'how was the BM going to show me the humanity behind the image?...excellent.
This piece is a really good read.
Sally