SNEAK PEEK…
The National Portrait Gallery
@npglondonevents in London is opening a new exhibition called Six Lives, examining the portraits of Henry VIII’s queens. Having written for the catalogue, I got early access.
It is an absolute treasure trove. But my favourite is the newly re-discovered and conserved portrait of Queen Kateryn Parr late in Henry VIII’s reign. In an extravagantly bejewelled gown (those massive black stones are diamonds!), she displays her wealth and status. But, discreetly, in enamel around the jewels in her bracelets, the picture also proclaims ‘LAUS DEUS’. Noting that this was incorrect Latin grammar, I tracked the expression down to the Latin Vulgate, where it only appears once, in Psalm 64. The full phrase is ‘Tibi silens laus Deus’ - ‘Remaining silent praise to you, O God’. The painted Kateryn remains silent and praises God, but the actual Kateryn was doing the same. At the time this was painted she had just survived an accusation of or was about to be accused of heresy. She was writing the personal and Protestant Lamentations of a Sinner, which would be published only after Henry’s death. She was remaining silent, but praising God in her secret heart, even as her outward appearance proclaimed magnificence.
Find out more in a film coming soon from
@historyhit .
