TPO - British art researcher Adam Busiakiewicz was browsing the web on X when he stopped at a photo recently posted by Tim Cox, Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire – an honorary position representing the British Crown in the central county of England. The photo was taken at a reception at Warwick's Shire Hall, the headquarters of Warwickshire County Council.
 |
The distinctive frame is one of the features that helped identify the painting as the lost portrait of King Henry VIII. (Photo: Adam Busiakiewicz) |
However, Busiakiewicz wasn't interested in the people smiling in the photo, but rather in the wall where an object hung that he suspected was the lost portrait of Tudor King Henry VIII. He had briefly glimpsed the painting with its "distinctive curved top" on the wall. He immediately recalled the series of 22 portraits commissioned by a local politician and carpet maker in the 1590s.
According to Busiakiewicz, Ralph Sheldon commissioned these paintings – mostly portraits of kings, queens, and “important contemporary international figures” – to hang in his home, Weston House in Warwickshire. The reason they have curved tops is because they were once incorporated into an architectural relief at the Long Gallery in Weston.
Busiakiewicz said the curved top was "a distinctive feature of Sheldon's collection," while the painting's frame "is identical to other surviving examples."
The painting also shows the king holding a sword and wearing a feathered headdress – exactly as he appears in the Long Hall engraving made by archaeologist Henry Shaw in 1839.
According to Busiakiewicz, this series of portraits was later auctioned off, and most of them have yet to be found to this day.
After making this public, Busiakiewicz visited Warwick's Shire Hall with local historian Aaron Manning to see the painting up close. "This portrait is enormous and perfectly in line with Sheldon's other portraits," Busiakiewicz wrote.
Busiakiewicz revealed that this wasn't his first discovery thanks to social media. In 2018, he stumbled upon a photo a friend had taken at a wedding and posted on Instagram. The photo contained a portrait that he identified as the work of the 17th-century artist Joan Carlisle.
A spokesperson for Warwickshire County Council said this was definitely one of the paintings commissioned by Ralph Sheldon. Since its discovery, the painting has been moved to the Museum's Collection Centre for further study. They are currently trying to determine the painting's provenance. The Council purchased the painting in 1951 but there are still many gaps in the documentation.
“The provenance is always a really difficult thing to figure out – sometimes it’s very hard to find, especially when paintings are sold individually. But there’s no doubt this is indeed Ralph Sheldon’s painting of Henry VIII,” the spokesperson said.
According to CNN
Source: https://tienphong.vn/tinh-co-tim-thay-buc-chan-dung-that-lac-cua-vua-henry-tren-mang-xa-hoi-post1658945.tpo
