The Embarkation of Henry VIII at Dover
The Embarkation at Dover
By an unknown artist, c.1545
The Royal Collection 2007, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
This fabulous painting of the warship Mary Rose and some of the most important warships in Henry VIII’s early navy is one of the stars of this summer’s Young Henry VIII exhibition at Hampton Court Palace near London, the Tudor King’s most famous residence.
A series of important Tudor paintings are brought together in the exhibition alongside audiovisual displays, interactive touch screens and historic quotes to tell the story of dashing Prince Henry who founded what became the Royal Navy. Almost the first act of his reign was to order the building of the Mary Rose, a revolutionary warship – the first with gunports in her side to allow broadsides to be fired.
This picture, The Embarkation of Henry VIII at Dover, shows the Mary Rose and her sister warship the Great Harry in 1520 as Henry VIII set sail for a meeting with King Francis I of France – they had signed a peace treaty in 1518 – accompanied by 6,000 members of the English court.
We can’t sell you the Queen’s picture of The Embarkation of Henry VIII at Dover from Hampton Court, but Artists Harbour has a magnificent print of it measuring 1240 x 658 mm. It is printed on glorious hand-made paper with specially made inks using engraved plates made c.1780 by artist Samuel Grimm and engraver James Basire. The result has then been hand-coloured. This truly magnificent and unique print is on sale for £750.
