Tag: Anne of Cleves

What to Expect When We Are Expecting “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light”

“Your Majesty is the only prince. The mirror and the light of other kings.”

Henry repeats the phrase as if cherishing it: the mirror and the light. (Excerpt from The Mirror and The Light)

It is 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead. King Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour, who gets pregnant soon but sadly dies days after giving Henry the male heir he has been expecting for a long time. Since one heir is not enough to secure the throne, finding a new bride for Henry is critical. And this is only one item on Thomas Cromwell’s to-do list in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light!

Cromwell, a blacksmith’s son from Putney and a newly created baron who continues his meteoric rise in the court of Henry VIII, needs to succeed at all costs to keep his power, wealth, and privileges. Imperial Ambassador Chapuys tells him: Continue reading “What to Expect When We Are Expecting “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light””

Holbein in Wolf Hall

source: farfarawaysite.com
source: farfarawaysite.com

We earlier discussed here the authenticity of the costumes in Wolf Hall as well as how much the series costume designer Joanna Eatwell values Hans Holbein the Younger’s work in achieving this authenticity.

It turns out that Eatwell digged into the paintings of Holbein for research. From Lucy Worsley’s interview with Eatwell:

‘He’s a genius – all the information is in his paintings,’ she says.

‘He not only painted members of the court, he also painted merchants and even some of Henry’s courtiers and staff, so we have a complete cross-section which is incredibly important for a piece like this.’

Eatwell argues, in an audio interview with the BBC Academy, Holbein is a “master in his craft” and his paintings are realistic but also propaganda. The paintings make a statement about the person in the painting — she calls it the “photoshop” of the times.

Continue reading “Holbein in Wolf Hall”