The National Portrait Gallery Book of the Tudors

When the National Portrait Gallery was established, the primary criterion for including a work was the history and the status of the sitter. It is fitting, therefore, that Scala's first two books published in association with this national treasure should be this delightful presentation of the Tudor kings and queens. The National Portrait Gallery has such an important collection of 16th century portraits that a whole gallery, known as The Tudor Gallery, is devoted to them. Hanging there is the striking portrait of Henry VII painted in 1505, the earliest painting in the collection, and Hans Holbein's magnificent cartoon of Henry VII and Henry VIII. There is also the Ditchley portrait of Elizabeth I, as well as the Gallery's first ever acquisition, a portrait of William Shakespeare. Early portrait miniatures include Nicholas Hilliard's earliest portrait of Elizabeth I, painted in 1572, and portraits of her courtiers and favourites, such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh.