King Henry VIIIth’s 500th - Exhibition

King Henry VIIIth’s 500th

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King Henry Vlll (After Hans Holbein)

On the 500th anniversary of the accession to the throne of Britain’s most controversial king, Henry VIIIth, on April 22 1509, his portrait is the focus of a new exhibition opening at the NZ Portrait Gallery on Wednesday, April 22, at 5.30pm. Historian David Starkey describes Henry as 'The king who invented England.....a real king, but also a kind of English Stalin."

Legacy: The Norrie Collection and Other Portraits from Government House, brings together a collection of portraits purchased by Lord Norrie, Governor-General of NZ in the 1950s and gifted to the nation in 1957. This is the first time they have been shown in public since an Auckland exhibition in 1955. As well as the portrait of Henry Vlll ( from the Holbein school), the collection ranges from the 16th century through several dynasties, and includes some of the most famous, and infamous, figures of the time and portraits from the schools and studios of artists like van Dyck and Ramsay. Recent caricatures of vice-regal personages by Murray Webb add the contemporary element. The curator is Dr Erin Griffey of the School of Art History at Auckland University.

Entertainment at the opening will be in the form of courtly dances by the Deirdre Tarrant Dance Theatre.

Legacy - The Norrie Collection and Other Portraits from Government House, shows at the NZ Portrait Gallery Shed 11 Wellington Waterfront from Thursday April 23- August 23 10.30 - 4.30 daily Free admission www.portraitgallery.nzl.org

ENDS

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