Portrait of Catherine of Aragon

1525 · National Portrait Gallery, London

portrait

The inscription "Queen Catharine, his wife" suggests that the portrait was part of a pair, the other being of Henry VIII. Dated to around 1525-1527, this small work is among the earliest English portrait miniatures. The cherry-shaped mouth is typical of the style of the Dutch painter Lucas Horenbout, who was employed by Henry VIII as a court painter from 1525 to his death in 1544.

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About the Artist

Lucas Horenbout

1490 – 1544

Miniature painter, son of Gerard Horenbout. By 1531 he was a court painter at the English court of Henry VIII, and in 1534 this office was conferred on him for life. No surviving work can be attributed to him with certainty. This is partly because, during his long career as court painter, he was paid a large fixed annuity rather than a negotiable fee for individual commissions. It was Lucas Horenbout who introduced Hans Holbein the Younger to the art of painting portrait miniatures. Lucas has been plausibly credited with the earliest of all English portrait miniatures, probably pendants representing henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. On stylistic grounds, certain other miniatures, as well as book illuminations may be added to him.

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