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South The Illustrated Story of Shackleton s Last
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Other documents randomly have
different content
court. It seems practically certain, therefore, that Holbein was the
“Master Hans” of the accounts.
Work was begun on the 15th January, 1527, and about a dozen
painters were employed for the next three weeks, at wages ranging
from 6d. to 12d. a day. Only one of them, Robert Wrytheoke,
received a shilling a day. He was a maker of moulds and casts, and
supplied the plaster figures and ornamental pillars. On Friday, the
8th February, the following entry appears for the first time:—
“Master Nycolas at the kyngs plessyer.
“Master Hans the day iiii.s.”[701]
This entry is repeated, with only four days’ interval, until Saturday
the 3rd of March. According to Mr. Nichols, the same distinction
between the terms of the two painters’ employment is kept up
throughout all the entries, the meaning of which appears to be that
while Holbein’s payment was fixed by agreement at 4s. a day, the
remuneration of Master Nycolas was left to be subsequently settled
at the discretion of his employers.
In the course of the work Holbein came in contact with many of
the chief English painters and a number of the foreign artists in
Henry’s service, and it is interesting to note, as some indication of
the estimation in which he was already held by certain of the court
officials, that he was more highly paid than any of his associates.
Among those who assisted in the work were John Browne, the King’s
serjeant-painter, who supplied much of the material; “Vincent Vulp
and Ellys Carmyan, Italian painters,” who received 20s. a week; John
Demyans (Giovanni da Maiano) and the “Italian painters and gilders,
Nicholas Florentine, at 2s., and Domyngo (Domenico), at 16d. day
and night.” This Nicholas of Florence was probably the same man as
the Master Nycolas mentioned above as associated with Holbein.
Among the casters of lead employed were two other Italians,
Archangell and Raphael, while John Rastall supplied “divers
necessaries bought for the trimming of the Father of Heaven, lions,
dragons, and greyhounds holding candlesticks.” A number of other
names are included, chiefly English mercers, embroiderers, saddlers,
plumbers, hosiers, and other tradesmen.
Detailed accounts of the materials used are given, and frequent
entries occur of colours “spent by Master Hans and his company on
the roof”—“Mr. Hans and the painters on the four cloths”—“Black
collars for Mr. Hans, 3s. 4d.”—and so on. These extracts seem to
show that Holbein was employed to direct all the painters and
gilders engaged, and no doubt the decorations were largely of his
design. It has been impossible, so far, to identify Master Nycolas,
then in the King’s service, who worked with him. He cannot have
been Nicolas Bellin, who was occupied at Fontainebleau at this
period, and did not visit England until some ten years later. The only
other Italian named Nicolas mentioned in the State Papers was
Nicolas Lasora, who, in 1532, was employed on the decoration of
Westminster Palace.[702]
Holbein and Nycolas were thus occupied at
“THE PLAT OF
TIRWAN” Greenwich for nineteen days, with the interval of
one Sunday’s rest, having been kept at work
during two other Sundays, when the ordinary workmen were taking
holiday. Holbein’s daily attendance at the Banqueting House appears
to have ceased on Sunday, the 3rd of March, though this was by no
means the end of his connection with the decoration of the building.
For the next month he was busily engaged either in London or at
Chelsea in painting a large composition for the decoration of the
back of the triumphal arch—the picture spoken of in such high terms
by Hall, showing “how Tyrwin was beseged.” This picture was so far
advanced by the 11th March that it and a number of other painted
canvases were placed temporarily in position for the inspection of
the King. Holbein had completed his particular share in the work by
the 4th of April, when the picture was fetched from London by Lewis
Demoron, who received 16d., “for his bote-hire to London for
fetching of the plat of Tirwan.” The complete decoration of the
building was not finished till the 5th May, on the eve of the
festivities, and no doubt Holbein resumed his supervision, though it
is not mentioned in the accounts. For his large painting, which
occupied him for about three weeks, he received the payment of £4,
10s., which is equal to about £60 or £70 of modern money. The
entry in the accounts runs as follows: “Paid to Master Hans for the
payneting of the plat of Tirwan which standeth on the baksyde of
the grete arche, in grete iiijl. xs.”—the words “in grete” meaning that
he received a sum down for the work, instead of a daily wage.
Mr. F. M. Nichols first called attention to this work of Holbein’s in
The Hall of Lawford Hall, published in 1891, and in the same year
Mr. Alfred Beaver, in his Memorials of Old Chelsea, referred to some
of the details in Dr. Brewer’s abstracts. Mr. Beaver was of opinion
that the old picture of the “Battle of Spurs” at Hampton Court, in
earlier days attributed to Holbein, was the very “plat of Tirwan” in
question. This, however, is not correct. “The Battle of Spurs” was
certainly not painted by Holbein, but by some much inferior artist. It
has been attributed to Vincent Volpe and other of the minor foreign
artists then in England, and probably was painted in commemoration
of the victory shortly after the battle itself, which took place in 1513.
It is on wood, and measures 4 ft. 4 in. high by 8 ft. 6 in. wide,
whereas Holbein’s picture was on canvas, and was evidently much
larger, for we learn from Richard Gibson’s accounts that it took
twenty-four ells of fine canvas “for the lyning of the baksyde of the
grete Arche wheruppon Tirwin is staynyd,” at a cost of 15 shillings.
“It thus appears,” says Mr. Nichols, “that about 90 feet of fine canvas
(which we may suppose to have been a yard or not much less in
width) was required to cover the back of the arch, and the main
decoration of this widespread surface of some 20 or 30 square yards
appears to have been the picture in question.”
The two pictures differed materially in subject. It is to be gathered
from Hall’s account that Holbein’s painting represented the actual
siege of Terouenne, whereas the Hampton Court panel shows the
pursuit of the French cavalry and their surrender to the English,
though the town of Terouenne, with its fortifications and houses, is
shown plainly in the middle distance. In any case the subject, the
defeat of the French by the English, seems to have been a singularly
inappropriate one for the particular occasion for which it was
painted, the ratification of a solemn treaty between England and
France, and there was little delicacy in Henry’s humour in pointing it
out to his guests! Even Hall intimates that they were more pleased
with the painting of it than with the remembrance of the incident.
The subject may have been suggested by Guldeford, who was
Henry’s standard-bearer at Terouenne, and knighted after Tournay.
The picture itself has disappeared, like so many of Holbein’s large
decorative works; not even a study for it has been so far discovered.
It is somewhat extraordinary, considering Henry’s evident
appreciation of this “plat,” and the interest he took in the general
decoration of the Banqueting House, that Holbein was not at once
taken into the royal service. His work at Greenwich must have
afforded ample proof of his powers as an artist, and the King was
only too anxious to offer inducements to the best foreign painters to
settle in England. It has been suggested that this lack of recognition
was due to jealousy on the part of certain other painters then
employed about the Court, but this does not appear a very plausible
explanation, for Henry was by no means a man to be influenced in
this way. This lack of royal patronage is all the more extraordinary
when it is remembered that at the time Holbein was at work as a
portrait-painter for several of Henry’s favourite servants, and that in
all probability the portrait of More, if not others, had been seen by
the King, who is said to have been fond of paying unexpected visits
to the future Lord Chancellor at Chelsea. Whatever the reason,
however, the fact remains that Holbein’s name does not appear in
the royal accounts until much later, nor is there any portrait of the
King by him of this date, or of Queen Katherine, or any other
evidence to show that he held any official position at Court during
his first residence in England.

PORTRAIT OF SIR
There are only three portraits by Holbein which
HENRY GULDEFORD bear the date 1527—those of Sir Thomas More,
Sir Henry Guldeford, and Archbishop Warham;
and only two of the date 1528—Niklaus Kratzer, the King’s German
astronomer, and the double portrait of Thomas Godsalve of Norwich,
and his son John, though several others, undated, may be ascribed
to this period with some certainty. The portrait of Guldeford (Pl. 80),
[703]
in the royal collection at Windsor Castle, was probably begun
shortly after Holbein’s work at Greenwich was finished, and was
painted to commemorate the sitter’s advancement as a Knight of the
Garter on April 24, a few days before the festivities took place, as he
is wearing the chain of the order across his shoulders.
He is shown at half-length, the body turned slightly to the
spectator’s right, the light coming in from the left. He is clean
shaven, with bushy hair covering his ears, and wears a doublet of
patterned cloth of gold, cut square, above a white shirt. Over it is a
dark gown with a wide collar of brown fur and short sleeves, leaving
the gold sleeves of his doublet uncovered. The thumb of his left
hand is thrust into his girdle, and in his right hand he holds the
white staff of his office as Comptroller of the Household. On the brim
of his flat black cap is a circular medallion the design on which
cannot now be deciphered. In the Print Room of the British Museum,
however, there is an etching of this hat-badge, or “singular ornament
on an escutcheon,” as a note upon the print terms it, which
apparently was made when the picture was at Kensington Palace
early in the eighteenth century, from which it appears that it
represented a clock, a pair of compasses, and other instruments.
Guldeford wears a thin double gold chain round his neck, the lower
part of which is hidden by his doublet, and over his shoulders the
Collar of the Order of the Garter with the pendant George. The
background is dark green, with a dark green curtain on the
spectator’s right, hanging by rings on an iron rod, which extends
right across the upper part of the picture, and on the left a sprig of
vine-tree foliage. In the upper left-hand corner is painted a white
label, on which is inscribed in cursive letters: “Anno D. MCCCCCXXVII.
ETATIS SUÆ XL IX.” The age painted on the cartel is somewhat
perplexing, as it indicates that the sitter was forty-nine in 1527,
whereas during the proceedings relating to the divorce of Queen
Katherine,[704] Guldeford himself declared that his age in 1529, two
years later, was only forty. Mr. Law suggests as a solution that at
some time or other, in some process of restoration, the figures have
been tampered with, and the fact that the XL is separated from the IX
by a blank space of about a figure in width, adds some probability to
his suggestion, while the face seems scarcely to be that of a man as
old as forty-nine.[705]
The masterly original drawing for this portrait, in the Windsor
Collection,[706] is inscribed “Harry Guldeford Knight,” and this,
according to the same writer, may be the sole authority for the name
bestowed on the picture, the untrustworthiness of some of these
inscriptions being well known. Hollar’s engraving of the portrait,
however, which was made in 1647, is inscribed with the name of
Guldeford; and the fact that there is a companion engraving of his
wife, entitled “the Lady Guldeforde,” and inscribed “Holbein pinxit,
W. Hollar fecit, ex collectione Arundeliana Ao 1647, Ætatis 28, Ao
1527,” confirms the claims of this picture to be an authentic portrait
of Sir Henry Guldeford. Both portraits were in the Arundel Collection,
and are entered in the 1655 inventory as “Ritratto del Cavaglier
Guildford” and “Ritratto della moglie sua.” They came to the Earl
with other works by Holbein from the Lumley Collection. In addition
to these portraits, Lord Arundel also possessed a miniature or small
oil painting of Guldeford—“Ritratto del Cavaglier Guiltfort in piccolo.”
It is possible that this small portrait is the one which Hollar copied,
as his engravings of Guldeford and his wife are both roundels.

Vol. I., Plate 80.

SIR HENRY GULDEFORD
1527
Windsor Castle
 PORTRAIT OF SIR
There is a miniature at Windsor, a portrait
HENRY GULDEFORD obviously of the same man, in which the face is
younger, and the collar of the Garter is absent,
which apparently was painted some years before Holbein came to
England, and may be the one formerly in the Arundel Collection.[707]
A small copy of the Windsor picture, inscribed “Ser. Harry Gylldford,”
was lent to the Tudor Exhibition, 1890 (No. 146), by the Hon. H.
Tyrwhitt Wilson.[708] Guldeford was the only son of Sir Richard
Guldeford, K.G., by his second wife, Joan, sister of Sir Nicholas Vaux,
afterwards Lord Vaux of Harrowden. He was a great favourite of the
King’s, and his companion in all his sports and pastimes. He received
many honours from the royal hands, and became successively Squire
of the Body, King’s Standard-Bearer, Knight Banneret, Master of the
Revels, Comptroller of the Household, and Master of the Horse. He
remained in high favour with Henry, in spite of the enmity of Anne
Boleyn, caused by his opposition to the divorce except after a papal
sentence. He died in 1533, shortly after Holbein’s second arrival in
England.
This portrait, which is one of the finest of Holbein’s works now in
the Royal Collection, is a dignified and lifelike representation, full of
character, while the details of the rich and elaborate dress, and the
sumptuous collar of the Garter, are painted with exquisite truth and
care. The face has a peculiar yellow tint, concerning which
Woltmann remarks: “It has been taken for granted that the head has
been painted over; but such is not the case—on the contrary, it is in
a remarkably good state of preservation. The colour must have been
a peculiarity of the person portrayed. This may be inferred from its
being indicated in a like manner in the drawing at Windsor
Castle.”[709]
Little is known of the history of the panel. In 1590 it, or a replica
of it, was in the possession of Lord Lumley at Lumley Castle,
together with the companion panel of Lady Guldeford, and it is
described in the inventory as “Of Sir Henry Guilfourd, Coumptroller
to K’. H’. 8, drawne by Haunce Holbyn.” It reappears, as noted
above, in the seventeenth century in the Earl of Arundel’s Collection,
while in the eighteenth more than one reference to it in
contemporary literature shows that it was then in Kensington Palace.
[710]
It was engraved in a small circle in Anstis’ Order of the Garter,
1724, in which his age is given as forty; by Vertue in 1726 for
Knight’s Life of Erasmus, and again in 1791 by Schiavonetti, after a
drawing by S. Harding, and described as “from an original picture by
Holbein in the possession of Sir William Burrell”—that is, from the
copy, possibly an almost contemporary one,[711] which was destroyed
in the Knepp Castle fire in January 1904, together with one of Lady
Guldeford, and other replicas of well-known Holbein portraits.

Vol. I., Plate 81.

 JOHN FISHER
Bishop of Rochester
Drawing in black and coloured chalks
Windsor Castle
 UNKNOWN ENGLISH LADY
Drawing in black and coloured chalks
Basel Gallery

Vol. I., Plate 82.

 UNKNOWN ENGLISHMAN
Bishop of Rochester
Drawing in black and coloured chalks
Basil Gallery
 UNKNOWN ENGLISH LADY
Drawing in black and coloured chalks
Basel Gallery

The portrait of Lady Guldeford,[712] lent by Mr. Frewen to the

National Portrait Exhibition at South Kensington in 1868, and to the
Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1880 (No. 171), was at Lumley
Castle in 1590, and is entered in the inventory as “Of the La.
Guilfourd, wife to Sir Harry Guilfourd, Coumptroller, drawne by
Haunce Holbyn”; and at a later period was in the Duke of
Buckingham’s Collection at Stowe. This once fine portrait has been
much rubbed, repaired, and over-varnished, but according to Sir
George Scharf and the late Mr. F. G. Stephens, its genuineness as a
work of Holbein is unquestionable. This is proved, says the latter,[713]
“by the vigorous expression of the penetrating eyes of the lady, the
still evident luminosity of the flesh, the imperiousness of the
delicately cut nostrils, the exquisite execution of the details, and the
energy imparted to the much injured hands. The fine painting of the
sleeve of gold illustrates the practice of Holbein and his school in
employing leaf gold to impart lustre to the fabric.... The best proof
of the genuineness of ‘Lady Guildford’ is the exquisite execution of
the branch of vine in the background, a feature which appears in
several of Holbein’s paintings.... The Guildford portraits are both
distinguished by the energy of the motives they exhibit, the
precision, mastery, and complete softness of the modelling; this is
the unfailing test of the genuineness of work ascribed to Holbein....
Another test is supplied by the flossy silk-like character of the hair
and beards of the sitters whenever the works have, as in the
‘Reskimer,’ escaped restoration.” This portrait is now in the collection
of Mr. W. C. Vanderbilt, New York; and there is a good early
miniature copy of it in the possession of Mrs. Joseph,[714] which in
earlier days was said to represent Katherine of Aragon. That it is a
portrait of Lady Guldeford, however, is proved by Hollar’s engraving,
[715]
with which it is in close agreement. There is a fine drawing of an
English lady, in black and coloured chalks, in the Basel Collection (Pl.
81 (2)),[716] which appears to be a study for this portrait, though, if
so, Holbein made several slight alterations when he came to paint
the picture. It shows the six gold bands or chains which are looped
across the lady’s breast and carried over the shoulders, and the
head-dress is the same. There is a second study of a lady of Henry
VIII’s Court at Basel (Pl. 82 (2)),[717] also in black and coloured
chalks, which has considerable facial likeness to Lady Guldeford,
though there are slight differences in the ornamentation of the
angular head-dress and bodice. Two links of a heavy chain are
drawn in detail on the breast. In the same collection there is a
portrait drawing of this lady’s husband (Pl. 82 (1)),[718] which in turn
bears a considerable resemblance to the Windsor head of Guldeford,
while the dress, cap, and bushy hair over the ears are the same. It is
possible that these two drawings represent Sir Henry and his wife.

PORTRAIT OF
One of the finest of the earlier drawings in the
WILLIAM WARHAM Windsor Collection is the magnificent head of
William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury,[719]
which, though badly rubbed and damaged, remains a wonderful
example of the truth and vividness of Holbein’s portraiture. It is on
unprimed paper, 17 in. high by 12 in. wide. It was natural that the
painter should turn to Warham for employment, not only through his
close friendship with Sir Thomas More, but as the friend also and
generous patron of Erasmus; and, no doubt, the artist carried with
him from Basel a letter of recommendation from the latter, who also
some little time before had sent his own portrait by Holbein as a gift
to the Archbishop. Warham was seventy years old when Holbein
painted him, and had long since retired from all active political life,
having relinquished his post as Lord Chancellor to Wolsey in 1515.
He still, however, retained his high ecclesiastical office, in spite of
more than one indignity put upon him by the Cardinal. He was a
leading representative of the older age then passing away, and his
last days were far from happy ones.
There are two versions of Holbein’s portrait of him, almost
identical, and both based upon the Windsor drawing, one in
Lambeth Palace[720] and the other in the Louvre (Pl. 83).[721] He is
represented at half-length, seated, turned towards the left, his
hands resting on a cushion covered with gold brocade. He is dressed
in his episcopal robes, with a deep fur collar, and a black, closely-
fitting cap. On the spectator’s right, on the table, is an open service
book, and farther back on a shelf, behind the sitter’s left shoulder,
are other books and his jewelled mitre; and to the left a magnificent
crucifix of gold and jewels. The background consists of a curtain,
which is yellowish brown in the Lambeth picture, and green in the
Louvre version. The latter is the more brilliant and harmonious in
colouring, and painted in a thicker impasto, the Lambeth example
being greyer in tone and more dryly executed, and, perhaps, more
carefully modelled. Both have suffered somewhat from the passage
of time, more particularly in the face, but both are evidently from
Holbein’s own hand, and are masterly studies of character,
representing the wrinkled old man, saddened by adversities, and by
the modern movements which he had not strength to stem, but
always kindly and generous to all scholars and others who needed
his help, and a sincere lover of learning. Both pictures have a cartel
in the top right-hand corner with the inscription “Anno Dm̅̅ . MDxxvij.
Etatis sue LXX.,” and round the base of the crucifix the words
“AVXILIVM MEVM A DEO” (My help is from God). In the execution of the
numerous details of the ornaments, the jewels decorating the mitre,
the patterns of the embroideries, the lettering, and particularly in the
figure of Christ on the crucifix, the mastery of Holbein’s brush is
everywhere in evidence. They are drawn with the utmost delicacy
and truth, and while adding to the sumptuousness of the picture in
no way detract the attention from the nobility and dignity of the
portrait itself.

Vol. I., Plate 83.

WILLIAM WARHAM, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
1527
Louvre, Paris
 PORTRAITS OF
The Lambeth version is said to have been
WARHAM AND presented to Warham by Sir Thomas More or by
FISHER Holbein himself, though there is no reason to
suppose that it was not paid for in the usual way by the sitter. “It
was lost during the civil wars, but was recovered again, as was
supposed, by Sir William Dugdale, who restored it to Lambeth in the
time of Archbishop Sancroft.”[722] Walpole states that “Archbishop
Parker entailed this, and another of Erasmus, on his successors; they
were stolen in the civil war, but Juxon repurchased the former.”[723]
The “Erasmus,” which did not return to its original resting-place,
was, no doubt, the one by Holbein sent over by the sitter as a
present to Warham. The same writer says that the “Warham” was at
one time in De Loo’s collection, and was afterwards in the
possession of Sir Walter Cope, who had several works by Holbein,
which passed by marriage to the Earl of Holland. The history of the
Louvre portrait is not known, but it belonged at one time to the
Newton family, and later on to Louis XIV. It is possible that it was
painted for Erasmus, and that it is the version which belonged to the
Earl of Arundel, which is entered in the 1655 inventory as
“Warramus Vescovo de Canterbury.” The Louvre picture, which is the
larger of the two, is considered by some critics to be the original
painting, the Lambeth version being a replica from Holbein’s brush;
others hold that the latter is the original and the better work of the
two, but the point is not easy of solution unless the two pictures
could be exhibited side by side. There are two other versions of the
portrait at Lambeth Palace, but both are inferior copies. A panel of
far higher qualities was lent by Viscount Dillon to the Tudor
Exhibition, 1890 (No. 107),[724] and to the Oxford Exhibition, 1904
(No. 21).[725] This picture, which is an almost exact replica of the
Louvre and Lambeth examples, has considerable claims to be
considered an original work which has suffered, more particularly in
the face and hands, from repainting. It has a beautifully rich golden
tone, and certain of the details, more particularly the little gilded
figure of Christ on the crucifix, are drawn with too great a mastery
to be from the hand of any copyist. The writing on the cartellino in
the background is also fine and full of character, very unlike the work
of an imitator. Some lack of strength in the handling and
characterisation of face and hands may, however, point to a good,
contemporary worker. Evelyn, in his Diary, 1664, mentions this
portrait at Ditchley as a head of a Pope.
Another high ecclesiastic, and friend of Erasmus and More, John
Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was painted by Holbein during his first
visit to England, probably at about the same time as Warham.
Unfortunately the picture itself is missing, but three preliminary
drawings for it are in existence, one at Windsor (Pl. 81 (1)), a
second in the British Museum, and the third until recently in the
possession of Mr. J. P. Heseltine. The first,[726] in black and coloured
chalks, is, perhaps, the finest, the somewhat hard, ascetic character
of the face being rendered with extraordinary expression with a few
bold and forceful touches. The lines of the body and dress are
merely indicated in outline. He is wearing the close-fitting black
doctor’s cap, and the face, almost in full, is turned slightly to the
spectator’s left. At the bottom of the study is the inscription, “Il
Epyscopo de resester fo tagliato il Capo l’ano 1535” (The Bishop of
Rochester beheaded in 1535), which seems to indicate that the
drawing was once in the possession of some Italian. The drawing in
the British Museum[727] is more carefully finished, and was probably
made from the Windsor sketch. It was once in the Richardson
Collection, and was bequeathed to the Museum by the Rev. C. M.
Cracherode. It has no inscription. The powerful drawing which
formed part of the Heseltine collection, dispersed in 1912, is on a
reddish ground.
In this drawing Holbein has accomplished, with the simplest
means, one of his finest and most subtle studies of character. The
pale face, and thin, determined lips, with a faint, scornful smile upon
them, and the brightness of the eyes, still undimmed in spite of his
age, fully express the character of one who was ever ready to do
battle for his opinions, and to die rather than betray his convictions.
Mingled with this obstinacy the painter has expressed that kindliness
towards all who came in contact with him, which Erasmus extolled
so highly, and that personal purity of life which, together with his
profound learning, formed one of his most striking characteristics.
Froude says of him: “Fisher was the only one of the prelates for
whom it is possible to feel esteem. He was weak, superstitious,
pedantic, and even cruel towards the Protestants. But he was a
sincere man, living in honest fear of evil, so far as he understood
what evil was, and he could rise above the menaces of temporal
suffering under which his brethren of the episcopal bench sank so
rapidly into humility and subjection.”[728]
As stated above, the portrait which Holbein must evidently have
painted from this preliminary study has disappeared. The picture in
St. John’s College, Cambridge, which was lent to the Tudor
Exhibition in 1890 (No. 138), was ascribed to Holbein in the
catalogue, but is not by him, though it may be a copy of the lost
original. He is shown with a staff in one hand and a glove in the
other, and it is inscribed “Ao Ætatis 74,” which, as Fisher was born in
1456, would date the panel 1528. Dallaway, in his annotations to
Walpole, notes another version at Didlington, Norfolk.[729] There was
a second portrait of Fisher in the Tudor Exhibition (No. 61), lent by
the Hon. H. Tyrwhitt Wilson, a half-length, holding a prayer book in
both hands.

PORTRAIT OF THE
Only two paintings by Holbein are known with
GODSALVES the date 1528—the double portrait in the Dresden
Gallery and the “Kratzer” in the Louvre. The
[730]
former, a small square panel (Pl. 84), represents Thomas
Godsalve, of Norwich, and his son John, afterwards knighted. The
figures, considerably less than life-size, are shown to the waist,
seated at a table, turned slightly to the spectator’s right. The father,
a ruddy-faced old man, dressed in the usual black cap and dark
overcoat or robe with a heavy fur collar, holds a quill pen, with both
hands resting on a sheet of paper in front of him, on which he has
just written: “Thomas Godsalve de Norwico Etatis sue anno
quadragesimo septo.” The son, dressed in a similar costume, is
seated on the spectator’s left, a little behind his father. He wears no
cap upon his dark hair, which, like the older man’s, is long, hiding
the ears, and cut straight across the forehead. In his left hand,
partly concealed in the folds of his cloak, he holds a paper. Both men
are clean shaven, and wear white shirts, that of the son being
decorated round the neck with black Spanish work. An inkpot is on
the table, and in the left upper corner, above Sir John’s head, a
cartellino is affixed to the plain background bearing the date—“Anno
Dm. M. D. xxviij.” The picture is a fine example of Holbein’s work at
this period, and is in an excellent state of preservation.[731] There is
no drawing of Thomas Godsalve among the Windsor studies, but of
the son there is an exceptionally fine one (Pl. 85).[732] It is carried
out in body-colours, and is much further advanced than the other
drawings in the collection, and, though somewhat rubbed, is a most
masterly example of Holbein’s veracity of portraiture. It cannot be
regarded, however, with certainty, as a preliminary study for the
Dresden picture for two reasons. In the first place, the sitter appears
to be several years older than in that picture, and although the
figure is seated and the position of the body is much the same, the
poise of the head is different, and the face is turned more directly
towards the spectator, while the hands, holding a sheet of paper,
rest on a table or rail in front of him; and in the second place, it is
practically a finished drawing, and is perhaps an example of
Holbein’s occasional practice of preparing his portraits on paper or
parchment, which he afterwards fastened to the panel before giving
them the final touches. He wears a coat of violet open in front and
showing the white shirt, and over it a black gown trimmed with
yellow sable, and a black cap with a circular badge, of which the
design is not indicated. The hair and eyebrows are finished with a
hair pencil. The background is a plain one of azure blue. He has a
thin face, a large and sharp nose, and blue eyes, with a scanty
growth of beard on his shaven chin. He gazes at the spectator with a
serious, thoughtful expression; in which Woltmann saw something
puritanical, no doubt because Godsalve, as he notes, presented the
King with a New Testament as a New Year’s gift in 1539.[733] In the
following year he gave a perfumed box. Blomefield[734] mentions this
drawing as being in his time in the Closet at Kensington Palace.
There is a miniature of Godsalve in the Bodleian Library.
 Vol. I., Plate 84.

THOMAS AND JOHN GODSALVE

1528
Royal Picture Gallery, Dresden

Vol. I., Plate 85.

 SIR JOHN GODSALVE
Drawing in black and coloured chalks and water-colour.
Reproduced by gracious permission of H.M. the King.
Windsor Castle
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