Age of Power

This episode looks at the Tudors and spans from Henry VIII's accession in 1509 to the first performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII 100 years later. David Dimbleby shows how the Tudors used art as an instrument of power and propaganda. Featuring a look at Henry VIII and the gilded tomb in Westminster Abbey he commissioned for his father, as well as the Field of Cloth of Gold painting made to celebrate his diplomatic triumph over the French.