Henry the Eighth was not interred in this mausoleum, but in Saint
George's Chapel, as has just been mentioned, and as he himself
directed, "midway between the state and the high altar." Full
instructions were left by him for the erection of a monument which, if it
had been completed, would have been truly magnificent. The
pavement was to be of oriental stones, with two great steps upon it of
the same material. The two pillars of the church between which the
tomb was to be set were to be covered with bas-reliefs, representing
the chief events of the Old Testament, angels with gilt garlands,
fourteen images of the prophets, the apostles, the evangelists, and the
four doctors of the Church, and at the foot of every image a little child
with a basket full of red and white roses enamelled and gilt. Between
these pillars, on a basement of white marble, the epitaphs of the king
and queen were to be written in letters of gold.
On the same basement were to be two tombs of black touchstone
supporting the images of the king and queen, not as dead, but sleeping,
"to show," so runs the order, "that famous princes leaving behind them
great fame do never die." On the right hand, at either corner of the
tomb, was to be an angel holding the king's arms, with a great
candlestick, and at the opposite corners two other angels hearing the
queen's arms and candlesticks.
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