Category: Tudor portraiture

Illuminated manuscripts, portrait miniature, Portraiture, Renaissance, Subjects for discussion, Tudor portraiture

Monkey business at 16th century royal courts

Melanie V Taylor

In 1492 Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506) sailed under the Spanish flag and discovered a whole new land. Six years later the Portuguese explorer, Vasco de Gama (1460 – 1524) reached India’s Malabar coast, which had been a centre of trade between Arab and far eastern merchants for at least fifteen hundred years.  Columbus’s voyage west… Continue reading Monkey business at 16th century royal courts

Artists of Northern Europe, Original Documents, portrait miniature, Portraiture, Renaissance, Royal Portraits, Tudor portraiture

How we know the Tudor Royals from 1485 – 1558; and who painted them.

Melanie V Taylor

A recent article in various publications (including The Smithsonian magazine), looked at Franny Moyle’s suggestion that Holbein left clues regarding the identification of one of his sitters of his miniatures being of Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anna, Duchess of Cleves.  It is not the first time this possibility has been discussed.  Heather Darsie describes how Anna adopted the… Continue reading How we know the Tudor Royals from 1485 – 1558; and who painted them.

Artists of Northern Europe, portrait miniature, Portraiture, Royal Portraits, Tudor portraiture

A Portrait of Anna, Duchess of Cleves : The King’s Beloved Sister

Melanie V Taylor

Anna, Duchess of Cleves. Hans Holbein the Younger (1497 - 1543) (?). Rosenbach Museum, Philadelphia, USA. Accession Number 1954.1923. When Heather Darsie’s new consideration of Anna’s life and marriage was published in April 2019, the cover portrait (above) presented us with a completely different aspect of the duchess from the Holbein portrait that now hangs… Continue reading A Portrait of Anna, Duchess of Cleves : The King’s Beloved Sister

Artists of Northern Europe, Books, portrait miniature, Portraiture, Renaissance, Tudor portraiture

The Cromwell Enigma – A Review

Melanie V Taylor

The Cromwell Enigma by Derek Wilson, published by MaryleboneHouse. When it comes to Thomas Cromwell (1485 – 1540), what more of an enigma can there be than the paucity of detail for the years he spent abroad prior to becoming the indispensable secretary to Cardinal Wolsey and then the man who administered the affairs of… Continue reading The Cromwell Enigma – A Review

Artists of Northern Europe, Flemish primitives, Renaissance, Royal Portraits, Subjects for discussion, The Hapsburgs, Tudor portraiture

Solve the puzzle of this 16th c painting for a £5,000 reward! An update.

Melanie V Taylor

Just over twelve months ago I posted a short article on a painting held in a private collection. The owner describes his painting as ‘A unique, mysterious, unrecognised, unidentified painting’. The owner has a dedicated website (a link is in the footnote)[i] in the hope that someone will identify the subject matter, artistic attribution and provenance.  … Continue reading Solve the puzzle of this 16th c painting for a £5,000 reward! An update.