Join Dr Christina Faraday and take a journey back to the middle of the 16th century – a tumultuous time when the fate of the Tudor dynasty hung in the balance. We’ll discover art’s crucial role in enabling Henry VIII, Edward VI and their advisors to navigate the most difficult Tudor decades.

We'll also uncover how art was used to communicate Tudor power beyond this period. Our investigation will reveal that just as this era fascinates us today, it proved to be appealing at the end of the 18th century when the Wallace Collection portraits of Edward VI and Jane Seymour were made.

About the speaker: Dr Christina Faraday, FSA FRHistS, is a historian of art and ideas at the University of Cambridge. She specialises in the art and culture of Tudor England, and is the author of The Story of Tudor Art (2025), the first book to look at art across the whole 16th century in England, and of Tudor Liveliness: Vivid Art in Post Reformation England (2023), which considers the problem of realism in the period's strange and distinctive visual culture.

Take part at the museum: This course will take place in the Theatre, Lower Ground Floor. Participants taking part at the museum are encouraged to visit the galleries in their own time afterwards.

Watch online: This talk will also be broadcast live from the museum. Online ticketholders will be emailed a link to join 24 hours in advance. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks.