Jonathan Foyle looks at the palaces, tapestries, music and paintings created in King Henry VIII's name and asks if they compensate for the religious treasures he later destroyed. King Henry VIII had a fascinating and enlightening relationship with art. He came to the throne as the renaissance swept across Europe, yet England's new King never lost sight of the medieval chivalry of his forefathers. In the first of a two-part documentary, architectural historian Jonathan Foyle looks at the palaces, tapestries, music and paintings created in the King's name and questions whether the art he commissioned compensates for the religious treasures he would come to destroy.

Architectural historian Jonathan Foyle looks for clues in the king's art to glimpse what was going on inside Henry's head as he faced his darkest days. In the 1530s, King Henry VIII was at a crossroads. In his desperation for a new wife and an heir, he had broken with Rome, divorced Katherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn. Isolated and vulnerable, he needed a powerful new image as head of church and state.