Royal pictures

I'm sure we all know the famous portrait of Richard looking away from
the viewer and playing with the ring on the little finger of his right
hand. I've seen that gesture and his pose described as a sign of
nervousness.

I happened to be looking today at a book by Christopher Lloyd (then
Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures) and Simon Thurley (Curator of the
Historic Royal Palaces) originally published in 1990 to accompany an
exhibition at Hampton Court Palace. Though called 'Henry VIII: Images
of a Tudor King', it ranges rather more widely. It includes both the
portrait of Richard I've mentioned (from the Royal Collection) and one
of Henry VIII (from the National Portrait Gallery) [figures 9 and 18].
Each was painted about 1520, so that of Henry predates the famous
Holbein image. What struck me was how similar the poses were - so if
the Richard portrait shows a nervous man, so does that of Henry VIII.
That's something I'm sure Henry could never be accused of!