The recital hall was very calm as many in attendance waited to be informed on the historical importance of the Tudors and the infamous Hampton Court Palace.

Jason Nice, Chico State history professor, presented the special event Tudor Memories: 500 Years of Commemoration at Hampton Court Palace Wednesday night in Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall.

The event centered on the importance of the Hampton Court Palace in British history, insight on the Tudors and highlighted the illustrious life of King Henry VIII.

Nice delivered an hour-long lecture that was very informative while maintaining a large amount of interest.

From various amounts of historical excerpts to almost a hundred different artistic slides, there was a lot of information to retain during the lecture.

Nice opened with the architectural aspects of the Hampton Court Palace and its distinction from other British Palaces. With images of the varying buildings that compose the Palace, the presentation did not fail to showcase the brilliance of the work.

Nice stated the importance of King Henry to the palace. He recited historical facts, many pertaining to the eclectic artistic choices that King Henry made when designing many parts of the palace.

The slides display a variety of artistic influences that could be seen in the palace. Inspirations came from all over the globe, including countries such as France, Italy, Greece and many others.

Art based on folk tales, legends, myths and history seemed to be favorites of King Henry.

The most interesting part of the night was Nice mentioning the effect the Tudors had on the palace.

One may notice many of the artworks that refer to the Tudors or King Henry’s many wives during his reign when examining the characteristics of the palace.

Examples of this imagery include coats of arms in beautiful displays of window glass, numerous paintings of the Tudor family and the architectural designs influenced by King Henry’s wives.

The night was a success for those that attended the lecture searching for an entertaining, informational night.

Nice was pleasantly surprised by how many people attended his lecture, he said.

“It was nice that so many people came despite it raining,” Nice said.

Attendee Eric Richter has attended Nice’s lectures before and enjoys hearing him speak, he said.

“He is very interesting and it is fun to be in the same room as him,” Richter said. “Just fascinating.”

Michael Quiring can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.