Real Tudors

Today the National Portrait Gallery in London opened a new display The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered in Rooms 1, 2 and 3, admission free. This portrait of the young King Edward VI (c.1542) is one of the portraits that have been conserved thanks to funding by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Art Conservation Project. When a layer of discoloured varnish was removed, a dead beetle trapped in the varnish was found! The Gallery ascribes this portrait to "after Hans Holbein the Younger", which is a posh way of saying "We haven't a clue". Each of the Tudor monarchs is shown alongside a prized possession on loan for the show (CLICK).