Royal Family is known to keep their precious and historic artefacts and heirlooms under high security.
However, despite the strict security, the royals lost a highly rare and significant portrait of England’s monarch Henry VIII, which was believed to be lost back in 1781.
Now, a historian discovered the missing portrait through a social media post which he saw online. Sotheby’s auction house consultant Adam Busiakiewicz took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his findings.
“Strange discoveries can happen at any moment, it appears,” the historian penned in his blog, linked on X.
He explained that the painting he spotted in the photo is of “Warwickshire painter Ralph Sheldon, who in the 1590s was commissioned to illustrate 22 portraits of “Kings, Queens and international figures.”
Giving the reason to test the authenticity of the portrait, the art history expert noted that “painting has the same arched top and is framed in a corresponding frame as other surviving examples.”
He added, “Furthermore, an engraving of the Weston House frieze shows the very same composition for Henry as found in the Warwick painting.”
Busiakiewicz noted a great deal of the works are believed to have been “dispersed in 1781.”