{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O8858"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O8858/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM8932/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM8932/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM8932","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM8929","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM8930","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AG5689","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AG5688","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AG5682","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AP4549","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN8709","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN8615","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN8611","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV6796","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB3334","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB3352","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019MK7740","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O8858/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O8858","accessionNumber":"A.49-1935","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"King Henry VII","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Pietro Torrigiano was one of the first Italian sculptors to work in England. While training in a Florentine workshop, Torrigiano was said to have broken fellow apprentice Michelangelo Buonarroti’s nose during a dispute. Consequently, Torrigiano left Florence around 1490 to 1492, training and working in other Italian cities before working for royal courts across Europe (See Darr 1992, 'New Documents'). Torrigiano likely arrived in London around 1509, working in the city until 1519-22.\n\r\nThis painted terracotta bust of King Henry VII is one of the first works Torrigiano sculpted in London. It was probably produced at the same time as two other busts of similar style and dimensions, also attributed to Torrigiano, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Those busts represent a bishop (probably John Fisher) and a Florentine merchant (possibly Giovanni Cavalcanti); the latter was previously identified as Henry VIII as a young adult (for recent discussion of the group see Elizabeth Cleland in Cleland and Eaker 2022).\r\n\nAll three busts may have been commissioned by Fisher, the executor of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s will, or Cavalcanti, one of Torrigiano’s patrons, to demonstrate Torrigiano’s skill and win the commission for the tomb of Lady Margaret in Westminster Abbey in 1511 (Elizabeth Cleland in Cleland and Eaker 2022).\n\r\nThe Henry VII bust closely resembles the funeral effigy of Henry VII from Westminster Abbey, also attributed to Torrigiano, which is known to have been cast from a mould of the king’s death mask. The nearly identical measurements of the bust and effigy indicate both faces were cast from the mask mould. Torrigiano enlivened the bust by smoothing out the king’s features and fleshing out the cheeks, which would appear hollow if not adjusted from the death mask. The entire bust was likely produced from moulds, with minimal modelling. \r\n\nSince terracotta shrinks during firing, it is difficult to produce a likeness from a face mask that retains its real proportions. This bust attests to Torrigiano’s deep knowledge of terracotta sculpture techniques, as it is near-life size. To mitigate shrinkage, grog (bits of fired clay) was added. The clay also has a higher silica (quartz) content than was normal, possibly from the addition of sand, which would have made the clay less plastic and therefore less likely to shrink (Boucher et al. 1996).\n\r\nThe first recorded repairs to the bust, carried out by sculptor John Flaxman, date to 1769. The bust had broken into seven pieces and was reassembled with beeswax and resin. The interior, which was hollowed out from the bottom to allow for even drying in the kiln, was filled by Flaxman with plaster and reinforced with sculptor’s tools (rifflers) and mutton bones, found when the plaster was removed during conservation at the V&A. The rifflers are still in the museum’s collection.\n\r\nGrey overpaint was removed in 1928 at the V&A. After entering the collection in 1935, the bust underwent several further conservation campaigns. Earlier overpaint layers were removed from the face in the 1970s. Further overpaint removal and cleaning were carried out in the 1980s and 1990s. Jo Darrah conducted scientific analysis on paint samples in the 1970s and again in 1986. \n\r\nThe original polychromy was mostly well-preserved, revealing considerable differences between the original and repainted layers. The fur lining of the King’s coat, a symbol of his wealth and status, was overpainted white but was originally brown with black speckles, possibly in an effort to depict lynx. \n\r\nPaint was applied over a white ground (priming layer applied over the entire surface), which was a common practice in the Renaissance. The bust was painted with pigment and glazes mixed with egg as a binding medium and some oil added to slow the drying time. The King’s hat and cloak are both painted with carbon black, but contain different pigments mixed in to give the appearance of different materials. The hat contains azurite to give a cooler tone, possibly mimicking felt, while the cloak contains red and green glaze, giving it a warmer hue. \n\r\nThe painting was likely carried out by a painter in London, as Renaissance polychrome sculptures were generally the result of collaborations. First sculpted in a sculptor’s workshop, they would then be sent to an artist’s workshop to be painted and gilded. The extent of collaboration and communication between sculptors and painters varied. \r\n\r\nLast updated: 29/07/2025","physicalDescription":"This life-size polychrome terracotta bust depicts King Henry VII with his head and gaze turned slightly leftwards. The King is shown later in life, with  wrinkles around the mouth and on his forehead. \n\r\nThe bust is naturalistically painted. A white undershirt is visible past the collar of his black and gold-detailed overshirt. He wears a black cloak lined with black-spotted brown fur, out turned at the lapels and opened from the shoulders down to reveal red tunic sleeves. The brim of his cap is upturned at the sides and back.\n\r\nThe back of the figure is partially flat, and sections the thin terracotta backing have broken off. Some areas are filled with plaster, such as the tip of the nose and parts of the font of the cap. Breaks at the arms, shoulders, and neck have been repaired. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Torrigiano, Pietro","id":"A8924"},"association":{"text":"sculptor","id":"AAT25181"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"painter","id":"x36959"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"terracotta","id":"AAT10669"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"},{"text":"moulding","id":"AAT53134"},{"text":"modelling","id":"AAT53130"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Painted terracotta","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"British Galleries","id":"THES48985"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2006AM8932","2006AM8929","2006AM8930","2006AG5689","2006AG5688","2006AG5682","2006AP4549","2006AN8709","2006AN8615","2006AN8611","2017JV6796","2017KB3334","2017KB3352","2019MK7740"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"58E","id":"THES49233"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bust","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1509-1511","earliest":"1509-01-01","latest":"1511-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased, 1935 (John Webb Trust)","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"60.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"69","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"36","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions checked: Measured; 15/06/2000 by KB/CB\r\n\r\nchecked by KB through case glass in 63","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"'The earliest reference to the bust occurs in a letter of 10 November, 1779, from Michael Tyson the antiquary to the Rev. William Cole (British Museum, Add. MS. 59993, f. 152r-153v) reporting that he had seen in the house of Mr. [John] Wright at Hatfield Peverell Priory, Essex, \"three busts of Terra Cotta of Hen: VII, Bishop Fisher, and Hen: VII aet. 19 … taken out of the Room over the Holben Gate Whitehall.\" The Holbein Gate of Whitehall Palace, which had been built in 1531-2, was demolished in 1759. […] According to [Joh Thomas] Smith (Antiquities of Westminster, London, 1807, pp/ 22-3) the busts were purchased from an iron dealer in Belton Street, St. Giles, by Mr. [John] Wright, a coachbuilder in Long Acre, who, about 1769, had them repaired by the sculptor Flaxman, then a boy. The three busts remained at Hatfield Peverell Priory until 1928, when they were acquired by Mr. Arthur Wilson-Filmer, from whose widow, Lady Bailie, the bust said to represent Bishop Fisher passed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, […] that said to represent Henry VIII (now also in the Metropolitan Museum) passed to the Hearst collection, and the present bust [of King Henry VII] was purchased in 1935.' (Pope-Hennesy, pp. 399-400)\r\n\r\nThe bust of King Henry VII was purchased for £1475 from Lady Baillie through the John Webb Trust.","historicalContext":"Technical examination done using a Photogrammetric Reflex Plotter in the 1980s suggested that a mould was taken from the death mask of Henry VII to make both the bust and the King’s effigy in Westminster Abbey. The use of face casts for portrait bust production was popularized in Renaissance Florence starting in the fifteenth century and would have been a well-known technique to Torrigiano.\r\nBusts were often naturalistically painted to heighten realism. The well-preserved polychromy of the bust is rare, as many busts from this period were subsequently stripped of their polychromy. ","briefDescription":"Polychrome terracotta bust of King Henry VII, made in London ca. 1509-1511, attributed to Florentine sculptor Pietro Torrigiano.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pereda, Felipe. <i>The Man Who Broke Michelangelo’s Nose.</i> Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2024. See pp. 112-5, 230, 235."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Cleland, Elizabeth and Adam Eaker. <i>The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England</i>. New York: Yale University Press, 2022. See cat. no. 76 by Elizabeth Cleland, pp. 202-4."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Panzanelli, Roberta. ‘Compelling Presence: Wax Effigies in Renaissance Florence.’ In <i>Ephemeral Bodies: Wax Sculpture and the Human Figure</i>, edited by Roberta Panzanelli, pp. 13-39. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2008. See especially p. 23."},{"reference":{"text":"Marks, R & Williamson, P. (Eds.), <i>Gothic. Art for England 1400-1547</i>, London, V&A, 2003","id":"AUTH356067"},"details":"","free":"See Richard Marks on p. 15 and cat. no. 7 Peta Motture on pp. 150-1."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hubbard, Charlotte and Peta Motture. ‘The Making of Terracotta Sculpture: Techniques and Observations.’ In <i>Earth and Fire: Italian Terracotta Sculpture from Donatello to Canova</i>, edited by Bruce Boucher, pp. 83-99. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001. See pp. 93-4."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Williamson, Paul (ed.). <i>European Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum</i>. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996. See p. 96-97."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Boucher, Bruce, Anne Broderick, and Nigel Wood. ‘A terracotta bust of Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici.’ <i>Antologia di Belle Arti: La Scultura Studi in Onore di Andrew Ciechanowiecki</i> vol. II, 52-55 (1996): 32-9. See pp. 26-7."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gentilini, Giancarlo. ‘Il beato sorore di Santa Maria della Scale.’ <i>Antologia di Belle Arti: La Scultura Studi in Onore di Andrew Ciechanowiecki</i> vol. II, 52-55 (1996): 17-31. See p. 28, note 64 and p. 26, fig. 8."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Goronwy-Roberts, Ann. 'Mask: Torrigiano's Bust of Bishop Fisher reconsidered'. Private publication. 1992."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Darr, Alan Phipps. “New Documents for Pietro Torrigiani and other early Cinquecentro Florentine Sculptors active in Italy and England.” In <i>Kunst des Cinquecento in der Toskana</i>, pp. 108-138. Munich: F. Bruckmann, 1992. See p. 121."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Darr, Alan Phipps. “Verrocchio's Legacy: Observations regarding his influence on Pietro Torrigiani and other Florentine Sculptors.” In <i>Verrocchio and Late Quattrocento Italian Sculpture</i>, edited by Steven Bule, Alan Phipps Darr, and Fiorella Gioffredi Superbi. Florence: Le Lettere, 1992. See p.136-7, pl. 101."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Chaney, Edward. “Henry VIII's tombs, 'Plus catholique que le papé?'” in <i>Apollo</i> (October 1991): 234-238. See pp. 234-5."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Galvin, Carol and Philip Lindley. ‘Pietro Torrigiano's portrait bust of King Henry VII.’ <i>The Burlington Magazine</i> vol. 130, no. 1029 (1988): pp. 892-902."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Avery, Charles. “Introduction.” In <i>Fingerprints of the artist. European Terracotta from the Arthur M Sackler collections</i>, edited by Lois Katz, pp. 16-25. Washington, D.C., Cambridge, Mass.: Arthur M. Sackler Foundation; Fogg Art Museum, 1981. See p. 23."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Darr, Alan Phipps. <i>Pietro Torrigiano and his Sculpture for the Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey.</i> 3 vols. PhD diss. New York: New York University, 1980. See vol. II, pp. 420-1."},{"reference":{"text":"Trapp, J.B. and Herbrüggen, Hubertus Schulte, <i>The King's good servant: Sir Thomas More, 1477/8-1535</i>, London, National Portrait Gallery, 1977","id":"AUTH353435"},"details":"","free":"See cat. no. 3."},{"reference":{"text":"Pope-Hennessy, John. <i>Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum</i>, 3 vols, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1964.","id":"AUTH332986"},"details":"","free":"See vol. II, pp. 399-401."},{"reference":{"text":"<i>British Portraits : Winter Exhibition, 1956-57</i>, London : Royal Academy of Arts, 1956.","id":"AUTH354552"},"details":"See cat. no. 28.","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Grossmann, Fritz. “Holbein, Torrigiano and Some Portraits of Dean Colet: A study of Holbein’s Work in Relation to Sculpture.” <i>Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes</i> 13, no. 3/4 (1950): 202-36. See 222-4."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Smith, John Thomas.<i> Antiquities of Westminster</i>. London: T. Bensley, 1807. See pp. 23-4."}],"production":"The attributon to Torrigiano is based upon the close relationship between this bust and the gilt-bronze effigy of Henry VII by the same artist in Westminster Abbey.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Henry VII (King of England and Lord of Ireland)","id":"N889"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"costume","id":"AAT178802"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Henry VII\r\n(1457-1509, King from 1485)\r\nBy Pietro Torrigiano (1472-1528)\r\nAnglo-Italian; about 1511 to 1515\r\n\r\nTorrigiano was the most important Italian artist employed by Henry VII and the first sculptor to work in England in a full Renaissance style. Trained in Florence, he was by 1510 working in the Court of Margaret of Austria in Flanders and probably came to England the following year, bringing with him a knowledge of the sculptural traditions of both Florence and the Burgundian court. His major achievement in this country is the tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York (commissioned 1512, completed 1518) in Westminster Abbey (see photograph). The bust is probably a posthumous portrait based on the death mask which was also used for the King's effigy on the tomb. According to an 18th century account it was formerly in Whitehall Palace together with two companion busts of Henry VIII and an ecclesiastic (probably Bishop Fisher) which are now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.","date":{"text":"July 1994","earliest":"1994-07-01","latest":"1994-07-31"}},{"text":"British Galleries:\r\nThis bust was based on a plaster cast taken from the dead King's face. The cast was also used for his funeral effigy. The bust was meant to show the King as in life and may have been a test of skill for the Florentine sculptor, Pietro Torrigiani. In 1512 he was commissioned to make the tomb of Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York in Westminster Abbey. Torrigiani was the most important Italian artist to be employed by their son, Henry VIII.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}},{"text":"Bust of Henry VII\r\nAbout 1509-1511\r\n\r\nPietro Torrigiano\r\n1472-1528\r\n\r\nIn 1509 the Florentine artist Pietro Torrigiano was commissioned to make the tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. This bust was probably made soon afterwards. Torrigiano seems to have used the king's death mask  for the face, but fleshed it out to produce a more convincing likeness.\r\n\r\nPainted terracotta\r\nProbably made in Westminster\r\n\r\nV&A: A.49-1935\r\nCat. 7","date":{"text":"2003","earliest":"2003-01-01","latest":"2003-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["A.49-1935"],"accessionNumberNum":"49","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":1935,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2018KX3139","2019LM9254","2019LR2164","2019LV5955"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-02","recordCreationDate":"1998-08-20","availableToBook":false}}