The Eyes Have It - The National Portrait Gallery
People make history - fact - today future history is being made by Brown, Gates, Obama and Osama. In the past it was made by eight Henrys, Gladstone, Drake etc.
Today we can see the future history makers in our livingrooms via the TV. Historical characters we cannot. However the artists of the past can bring these people to us and the best place to look into the eyes of these people is at the National Portrait Gallery. Here you will see poeple who changed the world and I advise all who go to look into thier eyes. An artist concentrates on the eyes (ref the Mona Lisa) as they are, as has often been quoted, “the windows to the soul”.
The most striking portrait is the most famous one of Henry VIII - the one with him standing powerfully, fisted hands on hips, huge barrel chest, legs firmly set and muscular. Look at those eyes! As a young man he was handsome and athletic, perhaps the most accomplished prince in christendom - 6’2″tall (the average man of the time stood about 5’7″) a great sportsman, an artist (he played many instruments and wrote beautiful music, though not “Greensleeves”, which dates from about 30 years after his death) and he could speak five languages. However by the time that this portrait was painted he had changed - both in physique and character.
He had by now alientated most of christendom by making himself head of the church in england in order to obtain his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, to whom he showed little respect and less kindness.
Look into his eyes and you see this new character - it demonstrates meanness and calousness and selfishness.
The eyes have it - a dangerous man to know!