A virtual tour of the Young Henry VIII exhibition at Hampton Court Palace is now available on their website. For people like me stuck on the other side of the Atlantic, it is as close as I can get to seeing it in person. There are some neat paintings on display there and you can enlarge and zoom them. The rooms themselves are gorgeous too (I’m a sucker for old wood-paneled rooms).
Thanks to Tudor J. for the link and for creating such a great site!
Yummy! Won’t make any other comments right now, so as to not spoil the delight for others.
Just one question…is the display complete?
Hmmm, I don’t know if it’s complete or not. There might be more rooms, but the timeline seems fairly well-covered from when he became King to the start of the Great Matter and Wolsey’s fall.
How incredibly cool!!!
An observation about this Henry exhibit…
It seems a bit empty to me. The idea of using empty stark chairs as ‘characters’ is an interesting way to go. However, I was surprised at how much stuff there wasn’t. Are people dressed in costume going to be on-hand within these rooms? Frankly, I was disappointed in the way this was offered…there wasn’t any ‘life’ and Henry was such a vibrant personality.
‘Course, this was on-line and may be entirely different in personT his comment in NO WAY is to be a complaint against Tudor J. I’m thankful for Tudor J creating the link!! This will be the only way Henry and I spend any time together next year (sob)
Hi there,
Thanks for comments
The display is complete – the exhibition is made up of the 8 rooms displayed in the virtual tour. The project was commissioned to make an alternative way of viewing the exhibition for those with access difficulties. A stone spiral staircase is the main entrance to the exhibition. The virtual tour also acts as a good way to create a recording of the actual exhibition, both the artifacts and the look and feel of how it was curated.
Tracey, regarding the life, Hampton Court has many different types of exhibition going on all of the time (you probably know) with some involving actors and others offering a more personal experience. This exhibition was displayed as a more traditional gallery. However, in some of the rooms there were sound loops playing which created a less static atmosphere. This could of been incorporated into the virtual tour but we decided to leave it (always having to make judgement calls).
Clearly the tour could have been created with people in the Gallery rooms but this would have been in some ways distracting to the artifacts and much more expensive to produce. Finding sites within the rooms that offer the best view is not always easy even when the rooms are empty.
Your criticisms / suggestions are always welcome
Thanks
Tudor
Thanks for the clarification, Tudor J. It is difficult to really experience anything through the computer screen but as was said, I do greatly appreciate your effort 🙂 Especially fun was seeing the views of Hampton Court from the rooms showing Henry’s early life.
I guess I need to keep in mind that the wedding of Henry and Catherine Parr will also be taking place, so most likely this traditional gallery will be greatly appreciated by those suffering from a surfeit of feasting and joy.
Perhaps my envy of those who can be there is showing. Sorry 🙁