This essay examines the representation of gender and sovereignty in a little examined design for a royal fireplace created by Hans Holbein the Younger during the reign of Henry viii. When Henry sought to divorce Catherine and to establish the Church of England, the Bridewell precinct became a site for political upheaval. As Holinshed’s Chronicle details and William Shakespeare and John Fletcher’s 1613 All Is True or Henry viii would later dramatize, Bridewell and the neighboring Blackfriars staged the divorce trial and removal of Catherine’s sovereignty as Queen. By examining Holbein’s design that Bridewell palace became a palimpsest upon which the crown continually cultivated its dynastic desires –desires that Holbein’s design prove to be imbricated with questions of gender and sovereignty. Gender, sex, and reproduction are central to Holbein’s representation of the Tudor dynasty. Yet, alongside this gendered discourse is a legal one. Holbein depicts the law and justice as mechanisms which can redefine a sovereign woman’s subjectivity and curb her agency in submission to her King and husband. Thus, from Holbein’s fireplace emerges an ideology of familial dynasty and imperial aspirations built atop the legal subjection of women.

本文在亨利八世统治期间，由年轻人汉斯•霍尔拜因（Hans Holbein）所设计的皇家壁炉的外观设计中，考察了性别和主权的表现。当亨利（Henry）试图与凯瑟琳（Catherine）离婚并建立英格兰教会时，布莱德威尔（Bridewell）地区成为政治动荡的场所。正如《霍林谢德编年史》，威廉·莎士比亚和约翰·弗莱彻的1613年《一切都是真实》或《亨利八世》一​​样后来戏剧化，布莱德韦尔（Bridewell）和附近的黑修士（Blackfriars）进行了离婚审判，并取消了凯瑟琳（Catherine）担任女王的主权。通过考察霍尔拜因的设计，布莱德韦尔宫成为了王室中最淡淡的一面，王冠不断地培养了朝代的欲望–希望霍尔拜因的设计被证明与性别和主权问题息息相关。性别，性别和生殖是霍尔拜因代表都铎王朝的核心。然而，除了这种性别讨论之外，这也是一种合法的讨论。霍尔拜因（Holbein）将法律和正义描绘为一种机制，可以重新定义主权妇女的主观性，并遏制其屈服于国王和丈夫的代理机构。因此，从霍尔拜因的壁炉中涌现出一种家族王朝和帝国志向的思想体系，这些思想体系建立在妇女合法服从之上。