The Mary Rose
Limited edition prints on canvas and on paper, taken from Geoff Hunt's magnificent new painting of The Mary Rose, Henry VIII's flagship, in commemoration of her 500th anniversary.
Built in 1509, The Mary Rose was at the forefront of naval technology and served as Flagship until she sank in 1545 off Southsea in a battle with the French fleet. She was excavated between 1979 and 1982 and her remains raised from the seabed. The massively impressive remaining section of her hull and some of the recovered artefacts are now displayed in a temporary museum in the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth.
The Museum Project
One of the most ambitious and significant heritage projects in recent years has been given the go-ahead by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which has given full approval for a £21 million grant to the Mary Rose Trust to complete the conservation of the Tudor warship, the Mary Rose, and build a permanent museum for the ship and the artefacts in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. In addition, the Mary Rose Trust has raised almost £10 million of the final £35 million cost for the museum, which is due to open in 2012 in time for the Olympics. The green light means that the construction of the new museum, located alongside Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory, can now proceed. The museum will reunite the ship’s preserved hull with many thousands of unseen artefacts for the first time in 500 years.
The Painting
Geoff Hunt, Past-President of the Royal Society of Marine Artists has generously donated his superb painting of The Mary Rose, together with copyright of the image, to the Mary Rose Trust. This is a major contribution towards completion of fundraising for the Museum. In addition, 70% of all proceeds of sales by Art Marine of limited edition prints of Mary Rose go to the Museum project.
Geoff Hunt (left) handing over his much admired Mary Rose picture to Michael Aiken, the Chairman of Trustees, Mary Rose Trust.
Looking on is Vice Admiral Alan Massey CBE ADC, Second Sea Lord....
As part of the process of creating the painting, Geoff's research included detailed study of the contemporary illustrations of Henry’s navy and much time talking to the archaeologists who were involved in raising the hull and then studying it while it undergoes conservation.
Some measure of the painstaking study is the fact that Geoff spent a staggering 113 hours or more of preparatory work before he even lifted his brushes!
Many new facts have come to light over the 26 years since the Mary Rose was lifted and Geoff's picture incorporates a new understanding of her size, shape and sailing characteristics. His experienced eye contributes an invaluable new interpretation of this remarkable ship.
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