Portrait of Henry VII 16th century

Curator: Let's talk about this rather fascinating, sixteenth-century portrait of Henry VII, currently residing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's a drawing, likely rendered in pencil. What’s your take, Editor? Editor: My first thought? Haunting. There’s an ethereality to the way it's sketched. All those pale lines against the paper, barely there. He looks almost like a memory. Is that red chalk? Curator: Probably, which brings up an interesting point about artistic labor in the 16th century. These preliminary drawings, often done in pencil or chalk, served as crucial tools. A way of charting likeness and conveying it to the workshop that would make the armor. It’s fascinating to consider them not just as portraits but as stages in the construction of power. Editor: That armour certainly tells a tale. The etching almost makes him appear like he is composed of scales. And what is that strange bird-like thing on his chestplate? Almost a ghostly Phoenix rising, except I cannot quite read it as powerful. It strikes me as almost grotesque. Curator: Good point! You are right to focus on how it is an armor because that informs a great deal about its use. He is armored to the teeth as he presents a very clear symbolic depiction of English monarchy and of masculine power, not meant to invite emotional feelings so much as an aesthetic expression of royal strength. It's a symbolic costume. Editor: Do you see what seems like script on the page next to the line of his mouth? "Linha nova carolina". What's that about? Curator: A riddle, indeed. And it reminds me that so many sketches are more like conversations or workshop notes. One imagines many hands adding commentary across generations of use. This complicates any single or neat reading of authorial intention. This kind of sketch, it reveals the layered making of the monarchy! Editor: Yes, precisely. By looking at it from this point of view, we’ve shifted from admiring an individual likeness to examining the industry and the material production of power behind the king's image. Curator: Absolutely. This exploration has allowed me to see this historical relic in a new light! Thank you for your reflections.