Scrolling Online, He Saw Portrait With Unusual Rounded Top

A lost portrait of King Henry VIII has been rediscovered in the UK just 14 miles from where it originally hung after its commission in the 1590s. But that's not exactly where art historian Adam Busiakiewicz found it. The Sotheby's consultant was perusing X last month when he spotted the painting in the corner of a photo shared by the British crown's representative in Warwickshire, showing a gathering at Warwick's Shire Hall, per Euronews. Busiakiewicz took notice of the portrait of the famed Tudor monarch because of its unusual rounded top. Just such a painting had been part of a set of 22 high-quality portraits of European royals, statesmen, and military leaders painted by an anonymous artist in the 16th century.

The rounded-top set was commissioned by British politician and tapestry maker Ralph Sheldon and initially displayed in an architectural frieze at Sheldon's Warwickshire home, known as Weston House, per Smithsonian. The paintings remained in place in the 18th century, though only a handful are known to have survived the centuries since, some selling for around $250,000. The portrait of Henry VIII, depicting the king in a plumed hat and holding a sword, was among those that couldn't be traced. But "an engraving of the Weston House frieze shows the very same composition for Henry as found in the Warwick painting," Warwick-born Busiakiewicz wrote on X on July 7, just three days after the photo from Shire Hall was shared.

"Social media is a crazy thing because some people use it to watch cat videos ... and then people like me just look at what people have hanging on their walls," Busiakiewicz tells CNN. His sleuthing paid off. The Warwickshire County Council invited Busiakiewicz to take a look at the painting in person, and once he did, he was certain it was the one Sheldon had commissioned. The council has since moved the portrait to a more secure location while its provenance is investigated. According to Smithsonian, the painting was last seen publicly in a 1908 Christie's auction. A plaque displayed with the painting said the Warwickshire County Council acquired it from Madingley Hall, now part of the University of Cambridge, in 1951. (More King Henry VIII stories.)