In Bed with the Tudors: The Sex Lives of a Dynasty from Elizabeth of York to Elizabeth I (35 page)

10.
Prince
Arthur, whose premature death allowed Henry VIII to succeed to the throne. The combination of piety and chivalry in this modern window epitomised the early Tudor ideal.

11.
Modern statue of Henry VIII from the exterior of Canterbury Cathedral.

12.
Henry VIII: the most iconic image of a Tudor majesty, his gaze directly confronting the viewer in a departure from previous portraiture (by Hans Holbein).

13.
Catherine of Aragon as queen. Henry VIII’s Spanish Catholic first wife who refused to move aside quietly, insisting she was his wife until her death.

14.
Medieval carved underside of a window in Kent, depicting the ‘underside’ of life; the female figures attract and repel with their overt sexuality and suggestive fecundity, warning the passer-by to keep their mind on the spiritual and avoid the perils of temptation.

15.
Ruins of St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, Kent, dissolved by Henry VIII. It was rapidly changed into a royal palace ready for Anne of Cleves to stay there on her journey to meet Henry late in December 1539. In the end, she only lodged here for a single night.

16.
Canterbury Cathedral Chapter House window depicting Henry IV and Archbishop Cranmer flanking another version of the Holbein Henry VIII.

17.
Funeral effigy of Elizabeth Blount, Lady Tailboys, Henry’s mistress and the mother of his son, Henry Fitzroy.

18.
Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second, ill-fated wife; pen-and-ink drawing by Holbein.

19.
George Cruikshank’s depiction of Henry VIII’s reconciliation with Anne Boleyn.

20.
Beheaded statue from a tomb in Canterbury Cathedral; this was the easiest and most symbolic way for iconoclasts to strip Catholic images of their power: even the golden eagle to the right has lost its head too.

21.
Jane Seymour, the demure and modest replacement for fiery Anne Boleyn. Her rapid marriage to Henry VIII has divided opinion since.

22.
Anne of Cleves, the Holbein miniature that convinced Henry VIII to enter into a short-lived marriage with her in 1540.