There is a nice extended article on Hans Holbein from this past weekend’s Telegraph:

The artist who brought down a chancellor

The hand of Holbein: how the royals got a brand makeover

Martin Gayford explains how a single, misguidedly flattering portrait by Hans Holbein turned Henry VIII fatally against his most faithful ally, while John Guy looks at Holbein’s brilliant re-branding of the Tudor tyrant

Full article

And just a reminder, the Holbein exhibit at the Tate in London will be starting at the end of September.

In addition to the five creative arts Emmys the program won, the program took four primetime Emmys, bringing the program’s total to nine. Here is the run-down of the awards for Elizabeth I:

Outstanding miniseries – Elizabeth I
Outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie – Helen Mirren as Elizabeth I
Outstanding actor in a supporting role in a miniseries or movie – Jeremy Irons as Robert Dudley
Outstanding directing for a miniseries, movie or dramatic special – Tom Hooper for Elizabeth I
Outstanding casting for a miniseries, movie or special – Doreen Jones for Elizabeth I
Outstanding single-camera picture editing for a miniseries or movie – Beverley Mills, Editor – Elizabeth I Part 1
Outstanding hair styling for a miniseries, movie or special – Fae Hammond (Hairstyling designer), Su Westwood (Hairstylist)
Outstanding costumes for a miniseries, movie or special – Mike O’Neill (Costume designer), Samantha Horn (Assistant costume designer) – Elizabeth I Part 2
Outstanding art direction for a miniseries or movie – Eve Stewart (Production Designer), Leon McCarthy (Art Director), Sarah Whittle (Set Decorator) for Elizabeth

Lists of all the winners are available at Emmys.org

Unfortunately it only seems to be out in the US and Canada so far, but hopefully the UK will be following shortly!

The Creative Arts Emmys were announced last week and Elizabeth I took 5. A complete list is available here.

From The Guardian:

Archaeologists puzzling over a 500-year-old architectural enigma in a drought-bleached suburban park believe they have finally solved the mystery of its identity – and that the key lies with the Tudors’ struggles to cope with water shortages similar to those we face today.

Full article here

I just now came across a website with the production diaries from Justin Pollard, an historical researcher on the set of the sequel to Elizabeth. Check them out at Working Title Films

From Europe Travel News

The Royal School of Needlework provides another reason to visit Hampton Court Palace from August 26 to September 10 this year, where some outstanding work from the School’s textile collections and archives, as well as recent work by apprentices and students, will be on display. Entrance is included in the ticket for the palace.

In Yorkshire’s Huddersfield, an exhibition at the Tolson Museum entitled Stitches in Time runs until January 28 2007. It consists of a sumptuous array of historical embroideries from the museum’s collections dating back to Tudor times, including Elizabethan stump work and trousseau gifts for prospective brides. Open Monday-Friday 11-6 and 12-5 at weekends. Admission is free.

The crew from Time Time has gotten permission to dig at Holyrood House, WIndsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Several news sources had articles on the digs, which were taking place this weekend.

From The Sunday Times – History digs into royal lawns

From The Guardian – TV ‘diggers’ given access to royal premises

Another from The Guardian – Time Team digging for royal secrets

From The Scotsman – Queen orders TV’s Time Team to search for palace’s secrets

There were several articles relating to Mary Queen of Scots over the time I was on vacation. I’m going to try to get them all into one post here.

First off: Mary Queen of Scots’ Death Mask on Display

From the BBC:

Mary Queen of Scots’ death mask, her sapphire ring and a casket worth £1.5m have gone on show in Edinburgh.
…
The wax mask was placed over Mary’s face after her death in order to preserve her features forever.
Eyelashes, eyebrows, hair and paint were added later to give the mask a lifelike appearance.

Unfortunately the exhibit is now over, but you can see a few pictures in the full article.

Next: Portrait of Mary Queen of Scots is an Original, not a Later Copy

LOTS of news sources had articles and pictures of this one! Synopsis: A portrait of Mary QOS in storage at the National Portrait Gallery in London was thought to be an 18th century copy turns out to be from the 16th century after all. Tree ring anaysis of the wood the portrait is painted on and a recent cleaning revealed the true age of the image. Here is a selection of articles:

From Art Daily (with large before and after pictures)

From The BBC (with pictures)

From The Scotsman (with pictures)

From The Times (with picture)

From The Guardian (with picture)

Carolly Erickson, who has written several Tudor non-fiction books, has written a novel about Katherine Parr called The Last Wife of Henry VIII. It is available for pre-order in the US (left) and the UK (right) and will be published in October:

I’m sure some significant fraction of Tudor History fans have read about Katherine Swynford, mistress and third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. She was the mother of the Beaufort children, whose decendents include Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII and the origin of his claim to the throne. Probably most people are familiar with Katherine through the 1950s novel Katherine by Anya Seton, so it is nice to see a non-fiction book on her. There have been some others in the past (that managed to sneak by me!), but below are links at Amazon.uk and Amazon.com to the newest: Katherine Swynford: The History of a Medieval Mistress
by Jeannette Lucraft (please note that Amazon has Ms. Lucraft’s name spelled incorrectly)

I got this message through the Pen Pal page, but I think the blog is a better place for it:

Dear Tudor fans,

If you know anyone, from any walk of life, who claims to be a descendant of Henry VIII, and would agree to be filmed in a documentary, please ask him or her to contact me at:

momark515@earthlink.net

Thank you.

Tallisman

Hello all! I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m back and I’m still catching up on email and news articles. I should have some news up tomorrow or the day after. And for those of you expecting email replies, they will be coming by the end of the week, I promise!