Portret van Hendrik VIII, koning van Engeland en Ierland 1697

This engraving of Henry VIII, King of England and Ireland, was made in the Dutch Republic by Gerard Valck in the late 17th or early 18th century. Though produced long after the King’s death in 1547, this image is a fascinating example of how powerful historical figures are continually reimagined and recontextualized. Valck’s choice to depict Henry VIII in this way tells us a great deal about the cultural memory of the King in the Netherlands. The small scale of the print suggests it was intended for private collection, perhaps as part of a series of notable rulers. The visual codes of royalty - his crown, his stern gaze, his formal attire - speak to the enduring power of the monarchy as an institution. To fully understand an artwork like this, the historian can draw on an array of resources: from the artist’s biography to the history of printmaking, to the reception of Tudor history on the continent. Art’s meaning is never fixed; it shifts with its social and institutional context.