And it’s near where I live (sorta) so I might actually be able to go see it!!

From Boston.com,

“Imagine King Henry VIII is standing on a sandy beach, posing with a surfboard. He’s wearing green shorts and a Tudor-style hat, and his bare chest is covered with curly hair. The sky is reddish-pink. Waves are rolling in the ocean behind him.

Or imagine the king dressed like a punk. He’s sporting a single loop earring in his left ear. His white tank top is ripped to shreds, and day-old stubble pokes out from his cheeks.

Those are two of the improbable portraits of British royalty created by Stephen F. Smalley, a professor emeritus of art at Bridgewater State University who will be exhibiting his King Henry VIII paintings at the Diehl Art Gallery in Bridgewater this month.

The show will feature up to 20 of Smalley’s paintings that depict King Henry VIII in a variety of quirky styles and settings: King Henry as a cowboy. King Henry as a graffiti artist. King Henry as a sumo wrestler. King Henry as a London rude boy in sunglasses and a porkpie hat. Henry as a ballplayer for theNew York Yankees. There’s even one of Henry wearing the festive fruit hat made famous by 1940s film star Carmen Miranda.”

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Go visit the website!!

From Yorkshire Post:

“Some of the UK’s most famous royal palaces are to get a “green makeover”, with thousands of square metres of loft insulation installed to cut carbon and save on energy bills.

Work will also be undertaken at the Tower of London to insulate the Queen’s House, built in 1530 for Henry VIII’s second wife Anne Boleyn, and at Kensington Palace, where Queen Anne’s early 18th century orangery will be insulated.

The scheme, which will see about 11,000 rolls of insulation installed by British Gas and insulation company Rockwool, is expected to cut £130,000 in total from the palaces’ gas bills and reduce carbon emissions by 850 tonnes over the lifetime of the insulation.”

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Also, from the Press office of BBC magazine,

“The July issue of BBC History Magazine, on sale now, includes a feature entitled ‘Buccaneers of state’, which reveals how English pirates could be useful troublemakers for Elizabeth I and her successor James I. The article was written by Claire Jowitt, a professor of Renaissance English literature at Nottingham Trent University. Claire will also be discussing England’s Tudor pirates on BBC History Magazine’s new podcast – coming soon to www.bbchistorymagazine.com“

I went to DC and visited the Shakespeare Folger Library, the only Tudor related place that I was really able to see.  (Not many of those in the United States- HA!)

Here are some photos..

Shakespeare’s First Folio – Read more here

A page from Henry V (Queen Katherine to Owen Tudor)

Measure for Measure- photo of Phillip of Spain II

Men in Tights: A Brief History

Some misc links:

Check out this Henry VIII tour

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers shines as Henry VIII for round four of the Tudors

An article about Henry from the Economic Voice

“It is one of a series showing the seven Stewart kings and queens who ruled Scotland from 1406 until the Union of the Crowns with England in 1603.

TV historian Neil Oliver launched the stamp series at Stirling Castle, the historical home of the Stewarts.

He said the Stewart monarchy was a fascinating period of Scottish history, with “many dramatic characters and events”.

The house of Stewart stamps include portraits of James I to VI, as well as Scotland’s most famous Queen.

It is the first time Mary, who was executed in 1587 at the age of 44, has appeared on a Royal Mail stamp.”

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