Retrato de una dama, probablemente un miembro de la familia de Cromwell

A young woman of 21 in black satin and gold, a jewel on her breast showing Lot fleeing Sodom. In 1909 she was named as Queen Catherine Howard. Her jewels and sleeves may tell a different name.

The story behind the painting

Holbein painted this oil on panel around 1535 to 1540; Wikidata gives 1540. A gold inscription, ETATIS SVAE 21, gives her age as 21. The portrait stayed with the Cromwell family for centuries. In 1909 Sir Lionel Cust identified her as Catherine Howard, and that went unchallenged until doubts were raised in 1953. A new attempt to name her Catherine Howard was made in 2007. Earlier labels called her Mary Tudor, Queen of France, or Oliver Cromwell's mother.

What to look for

She sits against a blue grey background in a French hood edged with white and embroidered in gold, with a black veil. Her hair is auburn, her eyes blue grey. Her black satin gown has gold vines with fleurs-de-lis on the sleeves, fastened with gold aiglets. On her bodice hangs a round pendant with a diamond at its centre showing Lot and his family led by an angel out of Sodom, and Lot's wife turned to salt. Holbein's design for it survives in the British Museum. Another jewel at her girdle shows God the Father enthroned.

Meaning and intent

Sir Roy Strong argued the sitter should be a Cromwell woman aged 21 around 1535 to 1540, and suggested Elizabeth Seymour, sister of Queen Jane Seymour, who married Thomas Cromwell's son Gregory in 1537. Antonia Fraser saw a resemblance to Jane and read the black as a widow's dress. The clues fit: the angel's wings in the pendant echo the Seymour arms, and the fleurs-de-lis on her sleeve recall both Seymour and Cromwell heraldry. One source concludes there can be little doubt that this is Elizabeth Seymour, though the title still says probably.

Legacy

Two related copies exist: a 16th century version at Hever Castle in Kent and a late 17th century one at the National Portrait Gallery, London, both once called Catherine Howard. The original passed through the Cromwell family home at Cheshunt Park, then the dealer Colnaghi, James Dunn in 1911 and Edward Drummond Libbey in 1915, who gave it to the Toledo Museum of Art in 1925. Franny Moyle called it one of the most striking portraits of a woman Holbein ever delivered.