Royal arms of Jane Seymour,
Royal arms of Jane Seymour, c1536
Made in England
Stained glass
Even though she was Henry’s distant cousin and could claim royal descent from Edward III through her mother, Jane was granted a ‘coat of augmentation’ to elevate her status. This is visible in the top left section of the Seymour arms on the right-hand side of the shield.
Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, issued a dispensation for Jane and Henry’s marriage on the day that Anne Boleyn was executed. The royal glaziers were already working to erase traces of Anne from Hampton Court, making badges of Jane’s arms to be ‘set in the old garlands of the queen’s’.*
Taken from the exhibition
Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens
(June - September 2024)
Tudor paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger and contemporary photography by Hiroshi Sugimoto meet in the National Portrait Gallery’s first exhibition of historic portraiture since reopening, presenting a study of the lives and afterlives of the six women who married Henry VIII.
Six Lives chronicles the representation of Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Katherine Parr throughout history and popular culture in the centuries since they lived. As a frequent source of fascination, the stories of the six women have repeatedly inspired writers and artists of all kinds to attempt to uncover the ‘truth’ of their lives: their characters, their appearance and their relationships. From historic paintings, drawings and ephemera, to contemporary photography, costume and film, the exhibition draws upon a wealth of factual and fictional materials to present the life, legacy and portrayal of six women who forever changed the landscape of English history.
[*National Portrait Gallery]
Taken in National Portrait Gallery
Royal arms of Jane Seymour,
Royal arms of Jane Seymour, c1536
Made in England
Stained glass
Even though she was Henry’s distant cousin and could claim royal descent from Edward III through her mother, Jane was granted a ‘coat of augmentation’ to elevate her status. This is visible in the top left section of the Seymour arms on the right-hand side of the shield.
Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, issued a dispensation for Jane and Henry’s marriage on the day that Anne Boleyn was executed. The royal glaziers were already working to erase traces of Anne from Hampton Court, making badges of Jane’s arms to be ‘set in the old garlands of the queen’s’.*
Taken from the exhibition
Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens
(June - September 2024)
Tudor paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger and contemporary photography by Hiroshi Sugimoto meet in the National Portrait Gallery’s first exhibition of historic portraiture since reopening, presenting a study of the lives and afterlives of the six women who married Henry VIII.
Six Lives chronicles the representation of Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Katherine Parr throughout history and popular culture in the centuries since they lived. As a frequent source of fascination, the stories of the six women have repeatedly inspired writers and artists of all kinds to attempt to uncover the ‘truth’ of their lives: their characters, their appearance and their relationships. From historic paintings, drawings and ephemera, to contemporary photography, costume and film, the exhibition draws upon a wealth of factual and fictional materials to present the life, legacy and portrayal of six women who forever changed the landscape of English history.
[*National Portrait Gallery]
Taken in National Portrait Gallery