In the sixteenth century, Flemish court painter to the British Crown

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) gave us the imposingly regal

portrait of Henry VIII now kept in London's Royal Portrait Gallery.

Based on this Holbein portrait, the wax figure artisans of Madame

Tussaud's in their consummate skill recreated an absolutely faithful

likeness of the king. Which allowed me―based on my own studies into

the Renaissance lighting Holbein might have painted by―to re-do the

Royal Portrait, substituting photography for painting, the sole recording

medium available at the time. If this photograph now appears lifelike to

you, you had better reconsider what it means to be alive here and now.

- Hiroshi Sugimoto