Dr. Sheppard, _The Old Royal Palace of Whitehall_, 1901, pp. 385-6. According to Scharf, _Old London_, p. 322, the fresco was destroyed in the fire of 1691. By the aid of the large cartoon and Van Leemput’s copy a very good idea of the general effect and composition of the picture can be obtained. It is divided into two stages. On the spectator’s left hand stands Henry VIII, turned fully to the front, with arms akimbo, and legs stretched widely apart, and opposite him, on the other side of the picture, is Jane Seymour. Behind and above the King, and to the right of him, on a raised step or low platform, stands his father, Henry VII, and in a corresponding position on the other side, his mother, Elizabeth of York. Henry was very proud of his legs, and Holbein has depicted him in his favourite attitude. He holds a glove in his right hand, and with the left the cord of his dagger, gold hilted, with a gold and blue velvet sheath. His gold-brown doublet is richly jewelled, and his red surcoat is trimmed with fur and elaborately brocaded with gold thread; a heavy jewelled chain crosses his shoulders, and from another hangs a pendant. His flat black bonnet is ornamented with pearls, devices in gold, and white feathers. The figure is rather larger than life-size, but looks colossal. His shoulders appear enormous, partly owing to the dress, and partly, no doubt, through some exaggeration on the artist’s part to flatter the vanity of his royal sitter. Henry VII is shown in simpler costume; with his right hand he holds together the folds of his long ermine-trimmed gown, his left elbow resting on the marble pedestal which Van Leemput has placed in the centre in lieu of the window or chimney-piece which occupied the same position in the wall itself. He holds his gloves in his left hand, and has the Garter collar across his breast. Unlike his son, he is beardless, and his long hair falls to his shoulders. Jane Seymour is wearing a dress of tawny gold, full ermine sleeves, and several necklaces of pearls. Her hands are clasped in front of her, and a small white dog is lying on the long skirt of her gown. Behind her, Elizabeth of York stands with her arms crossed, and holding up her dress with her right hand. The floor is covered with a Turkey carpet, and the background consists of richly-decorated pilasters and capitals, niches, and a frieze, in various coloured marbles, in the Renaissance style of which Holbein made such brilliant use. In the frieze on either side are figures supporting a shield. The shield shown in the cartoon bears the initials H and J; the other, no doubt, gave the date. In Van Leemput’s copy the initials have been changed to “AN^o. Dō.” with “1537” in the corresponding panel, while the centre of the picture is filled with a high marble pedestal, with two cushions on the top, and on the front of it a long Latin inscription in praise of the two monarchs. Below this is inscribed: “Prototypvm Magnitvdinis Ipso