The most important depiction of King Henry VIII was painted in 1537 by Hans Holbein: the Whitehall mural. Painted on a wall in the royal palace of Whitehall, it depicted King Henry VIII and Queen Jane Seymour as well as the King's parents, King Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth of York. This was the iconic representation of Henry VIII which spawned nearly every other portrait painted of him since, and the image with which we still identify him. It was a great loss to both art and history when the mural perished in the fire which destroyed most of Whitehall Palace in 1698. The story has it that a maid had left laundry to dry in front of a fire. Fortunately, King Charles II had commissioned the Flemish painter Remigius van Leemput to make a copy of the mural in 1667. Leemput's copy is now a part of the Royal Collection at Hampton Court Palace. Half of the original cartoon (a full-sized drawing on paper with holes punched in it, through which the artist could trace the outline onto the wall) also survives and is housed at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Copy of the Whitehall Mural, 1667. Remigius van Leemput, after Holbein. © The Royal Collection. Hampton Court Palace.	Watercolor after Leemput's copy of the Whitehall Mural. George Vertue, after Remigius van Leemput, 1737. © The Royal Collection.
Copy of the Whitehall Mural with Edward VI, 1669. Remigius van Leemput, after Holbein. National Trust, Petworth House.	Whitehall Mural Cartoon. Hans Holbein, 1537. © National Portrait Gallery.

Full-length Portraits after the Whitehall Mural.

King Henry VIII, 1537-1562? Unknown, after Holbein. © Walker Art Gallery.	King Henry VIII, c.1600-10. Unknown, after Holbein. Formerly at Ditchley Park.	King Henry VIII, 1537-1557? Unknown, after Holbein. Petworth House.	King Henry VIII, after 1560? Unknown, after Holbein. Parham House.
King Henry VIII, 1550-1599? Unknown, after Holbein. © The Royal Collection.	King Henry VIII, 1560-1573? Hans Eworth, after Holbein. Chatsworth House.	King Henry VIII, 1567? Hans Eworth, after Holbein. Trinity College, Cambridge.	King Henry VIII, early 17th-c? Unknown, after Holbein. Belvoir Castle.

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