Henry VIII, King of England

Lucas Horenbout was a Flemish painter and illuminator from Ghent who entered English royal service and became the first documented painter to Henry VIII. This small portrait of Henry VIII, dated around 1526 and held in the Louvre's Department of Prints and Drawings, is one of the earliest portrait representations of the king — preceding Hans Holbein the Younger's monumental image that would define Henry's visual identity for posterity. Horenbout's miniature and small-scale portrait tradition, derived from his illuminator's training, produced intimate images that circulated among diplomats and court figures as personal gifts and political tools.

Horenbout's technique, rooted in manuscript illumination, brings precise, fine-scale handling to the royal features. The scale is intimate, suited to a diplomatic miniature rather than an official state portrait, with careful physiognomic description establishing visual recognition of the monarch.