Friends of Kenwood: Tour of the Tudor, Jacobean and Early Stuart Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery

How does it feel to be face to face with someone who lived over 500 years ago and chose how to be represented for posterity? 

The first portrait acquired by the newly founded National Portrait Gallery in 1856 was William Shakespeare, painted about 1610 (NPG 1). Now the gallery has the finest collection of early British portraits anywhere.

The recent extension and refurbishment in 2020-23 saw the Tudor and Stuart portraits enhanced by significant loans and redisplayed. Our tour of these galleries includes images of monarchs who preceded the Tudors, a section of the cartoon (full-scale working drawing) Hans Holbein made for a vast mural of Henry VIII and his family, portraits of the queens who succeeded him and of the courtiers and politicians they favoured. Among the gems is a unique painting that charts the life-story of an Elizabethan ambassador, a social document as well as a memorial. The Stuart portraits feature the major figures in the English Civil War; the Royalists who fought with Charles I and the Parliamentarians who defeated him.

The displays highlight the political events and the economic and social changes against which the portraits have meaning and purpose. We shall see how portrait styles developed in the period from flat, stylised images to ones of greater realism.

The tour led by Angela Cox takes about an hour. Angela was the first Head of Education at the National Portrait Gallery. Subsequently she has worked as a teacher and lecturer in galleries and museums including the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery and the V&A. Angela is also a Trustee of the Friends of Kenwood and leads our monthly programme of Sunday lectures.

This tour supports Kenwood’s Curator Fund sponsored by the Friends of Kenwood. Please consider adding a voluntary donation to the price of your ticket.

Nearest Tube stations are Charing Cross and Leicester Square (Northern line)

Also check out our October guided walk in Theatreland: www.tickettailor.com/events/friendsoftheiveaghbequest/2450421