Henry VIII Dressed to Kill

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession to the throne in 1509, Historic Royal Palaces and the Royal Armouries have partnered to present at the Tower of London the most stunning exhibition of Henry VIII’s personal arms and armour ever to be held in the UK - Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill. Some of these original artefacts have never been on display in the UK before.

This new exhibition, opening on 3 April 2009 and running until 17 January 2010, will be displayed over three floors of the iconic White Tower. It will bring together at the Tower of London, for the first time since the reign of Elizabeth I, the largest number of original weapons, armours and pieces of military equipment associated with Henry VIII.

Star items will include: the stunningly decorated ‘Silvered and Engraved’ armour of King Henry VIII (about 1515); the Wilton anime armour of about 1544 for Henry VIII from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, that has not been displayed in the UK for many years; the extraordinary ‘Horned Helmet’ presented to King Henry VIII by the Emperor Maximilian I (1511-14); and the beautiful ‘Burgundian Bard’ horse armour of King Henry VIII (1511-15).  This will be the first time all these objects have been brought together in a single exhibition.

Exploring Henry the Sportsman, Henry the King, Henry the Warrior and Henry the Icon, this exhibition will feature loans from international collections as well as treasures from the Royal Armouries own collection. The armours on display will include one made for Henry to wear at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520 but not finished. Completely covering the king’s body, it was made of many overlapping, moving parts using state of the art ideas and designs; it is still in ‘working order’ after 500 years. Made to fit the King’s body exactly, this gives us a wonderful impression of the physique of an athletic young king and of the man behind the monarch. Part propaganda and part fashion, it conveys the power, majesty, wealth and psychology of a man who spent a fortune setting up a royal workshop at Greenwich to make him exclusive armours and ensure he was always Dressed to Kill.

This dazzling exhibition will give visitors unprecedented access to Henry VIII’s most spectacular armour and personal weapons. It will include the only two sporting guns that are known to have survived from Henry VIII’s personal armoury, as well as examples of the experimental firearms such as the gun shields that he purchased to arm some of his troops. The exhibition will use not only the most advanced technology in displaying the armour itself, but also 21st century photographic, video and scanning techniques to show in fine detail the intricate construction and lavish decoration of these amazing original artefacts, hand-made by master armourers in England and Europe 500 years ago. Never before have visitors seen Henry’s arms and armour looking so good.

Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill has been generously supported by HISTORY ™. Tom Davidson, Managing Director, said: “This anniversary is a wonderful opportunity for a major TV channel like HISTORY to bring to life - through both the exhibition and a range of programming - one of the most iconic figures from British history, in full HD glory.”  

The Premier Partner of the Tower of London is Man Group plc, and Man Group plc Charitable Trust has made a generous pledge to support the conservation of the White Tower in time for the 2012 Olympiad.

Picture Copyright HRP and NTI