The two images had been compared in a beautiful book by Margaret Aston in 1994: The King’s Bedpost: Reformation and Iconography in a Tudor Group Portrait (Reviews: Christy Anderson and Gottfried G. Krodel)
- [top]: Anonymous: Edward VI and the Pope, an Allegory of Reformation, mirrored view (16th century, NPG 4165). Iconoclasm depicted in the window. Under the “window” 3rd from left is Thomas Cranmer who wrote the 42 Articles in 1552.
The painting Edward VI and the Pope (NPG 4165) was, until 1874, the property of Thomas Green, Esq., of Ipswich and Upper Wimpole Street, a collection ‘Formed by himself and his Family during the last Century and early Part of the present Century’ (Roy C. Strong: Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, 1969, p.345). It was sold by Christie’s 20 March 1874 (lot 9) to an unknown buyer
Location: National Portrait Gallery, London
- [bottom]: Philip Galle after Maarten van Heemskerck, redrawn (vectorized) print Ahasuerus consulting the records (1564). The resemblance to the upper image was shown by Dr. Margaret Aston in 1994 in The King’s Bedpost: Reformation and Iconography in a Tudor Group Portrait (p. 68). She also compared the bedpost to Heemskerck’s Esther Crowned by Ahasuerus.
Location: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam