Is this the real face of Henry VII? Westminster Abbey is hoping to finally find out

For hundreds of years historians have marvelled at the effigy of King Henry VII for being both lifelike and beyond the craftsmanship of its era – and have longer wondered how it was achieved.

The most prominent theory for its creation dates back to the 1980s, when it was claimed that an Italian Renaissance sculptor used a death mask to replicate the intricate details of Henry’s face.

Westminster Abbey now hopes to finally lay the mystery to rest by rescanning the effigy head, which is the last surviving element of the effigy, using the latest, high-tech 3D scans. It was last scanned four decades ago using far less advanced technology.

Lifelike and sophisticated

The lifelike funeral effigy head of Henry VII, the father of Henry VIII and founder of the Tudor dynasty, is considered one of the finest of its kind to have survived to the present day. It is one of the most popular items on display in the Abbey’s museum, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries.

Experts believe its sophistication reflected the growing skill of royal portraiture in Renaissance England, where effigies were typically carried at royal funerals between the 14th and 17th centuries.

Previous research concluded that it was likely to have been made from a death mask, where wax or plaster was placed over the face and body of the deceased following their death in order to create a cast from the corpse.

The head will now be scanned by ThinkSee 3D, a digital heritage studio, with the aim of resolving the long-standing mystery once and for all. The firm has been scanning artefacts, art, natural history specimens and fossils for over a decade.

The studio will use a technique called photogrammetry, where hundreds or thousands of photos are merged into a digital 3D model with incredible detail.

It is hoped the findings, due to be shared later this year, will shed further light on the connection between the effigy and the work of Italian Renaissance sculptor Pietro Torrigiano, who is thought to have arrived in England from Florence in around 1509-10.

Henry VII died on April 21, 1509 after suffering from gout and asthma. He was born in Pembrokeshire Castle in 1457 and was raised by his mother and uncle, with his father dying before his birth.

He spent several years in exile in France, returning in 1485 with an army and defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth to claim the throne.

This victory marked an end to the Wars of the Roses and ushered in an era of peace and prosperity which saw the monarchy’s wealth grow. Lavish sums were spent on building projects, including work at the Abbey’s Lady Chapel, where Henry VII’s body lies in a vault beneath a tomb alongside his wife, Elizabeth of York.

They were the first monarchs to be buried in the Abbey in a vault under the floor rather than in the tomb chest above ground. The tomb was made of marble and gilt bronze and also designed by Torrigiano, who was employed by Henry VIII.

Disintegrated

The entire effigy, which stood at 6ft 1in, was carried on top of Henry VII’s coffin during his funeral. It was made of straw and wood with a padding of hay covered with canvas and then plaster.

However, it was saturated by water during the blitz in the Second World War and disintegrated, leaving only the head intact. The nose, which had been lost previously, was also reconstructed after the war.

The tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, as well as a terracotta bust of Henry VII by Torrigiano in the V&A’s collection, are also being scanned for the project.

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