Holbein’s return to Basel—Fêted by his fellow-citizens—His prosperous condition—Proposes to repaint his wall-decorations—Offer of a pension of fifty gulden from the Basel Town Council, with permission to remain in England two years longer—Death and will of Sigmund Holbein—Holbein returns to England, probably by way of Paris, in order to apprentice his son Philip to Jacob David, goldsmith—Back in London before Christmas 1538—Receives a special reward for his journey to “High Burgony”—Portraits of Edward, Prince of Wales—Guillim Stretes.

SOME nine days after Hoby and Holbein parted company at Nancy the latter was home again in Basel after an absence of six years.[327] The journey across the Vosges mountains would not be a long one. On September 12, 1538, Rudolph Gwalther, then studying in Basel, wrote to the antistes Heinrich Bullinger in Zürich: “Hans Holbein came recently to Basel from England, and he gives such a glowing account of the happy condition of that kingdom, that after a few weeks’ stay he means to go back again.”[328] He received a very hearty welcome from the citizens, who, now that his reputation was much more than a local one, were naturally proud of the fact that he was one of themselves. On September 10 his fellow-burghers gave a banquet in his honour in the Guild-house in the St. Johanns-Vorstadt, the quarter of the city in which Holbein’s own residence was situated. Matthäus Steck, the steward of the Dominican Monastery, notes in his Book of Accounts that he and the schoolmaster, Brother Jacob, with their wives, were present on the occasion, and that they spent eight shillings.

There is a most interesting reference to this home-coming in Dr. Ludwig Iselin’s additions to the Faesch manuscript (discovered by Dr. His-Heusler), in which he says: “When he returned to Basel for a time from England, he was attired in silk and velvet; before this he was obliged to buy wine at the tap.”[329] In Basel, a city where wine was both cheap and plentiful, and all men of means kept a well-stocked cellar, to be obliged to procure it, from day to day, from the tavern was a sign of poverty, and Iselin thus contrasts Holbein’s worldly condition before leaving Switzerland and after his entry into the service of Henry VIII. Iselin adds, after stating that Holbein died soon after his return to England, that “his intention was, had God lengthened his life, to paint many of his pictures again, at his own expense, as well as the apartment in the Town Hall. The house ‘zum Tanz,’ he said, was ‘rather good.’” The pictures which he wished to put in order were, of course, his wall-paintings on the exterior of several of the Basel houses, done in his youth, some eighteen years earlier, which even then were beginning to suffer from exposure to the weather, and his frescoes in the Town Hall, some of which were already damaged by damp. No doubt, too, he felt that he could improve upon them, though it is interesting to note that he expressed himself satisfied with the “House of the Dance” façade, in which he had given the freest play to his imagination.

Twice during his absence in England, on November 23, 1533, and January 7, 1537, he had been “laid out for the banneret” by his Guild “zum Himmel”—that is, appointed as one of those who had to perform the military service of the Guild, but he had ignored the summons.[330] Possibly he knew nothing about it. He had even disregarded the letter from the burgomaster, sent to him in September 1532, shortly after his return to England, in spite of the offer of a pension which it contained; for England afforded far better opportunities than Switzerland for the making of money.

The two items, from the Banner Book of the Guild “zum Himmel,” are as follows:

The first entry is brought forward by Mr. W. F. Dickes as one of the strongest pieces of evidence in favour of his contention that Holbein obeyed the request contained in the Burgomaster’s letter, and returned to Basel in the winter of 1532, and remained there throughout the following year, so that he could not have painted “The Ambassadors” in England in 1533. He entirely misreads the entry, however, which he regards as a record “of monies due to Holbein for festal decorations on behalf of the two city guilds”[332] (Von Himmel und von Sternen); and he ignores the second entry, which, to be logical, should prove that Holbein was also in Basel in January 1537. No “monies” are entered against these items, as one would gather from his description, so that it is difficult to see how they record sums due to the painter. They were merely lists of names, as Woltmann points out,[333] of members of the Guilds appointed to take their turn of military service on festal occasions. The second entry shows this even more clearly than the first, and from it we learn that Holbein was one of thirteen members thus appointed as banner-bearers.

It is probable that one of the chief reasons for Holbein’s visit to Basel, in addition to a natural desire to see his family, was to make some arrangement with the Town Council for a further leave of absence. He was now in the actual service of a foreign sovereign, and he ran the risk of losing his rights of citizenship unless he could come to some understanding with the civic authorities. He had taken, as we have seen, no notice of the Council’s urgent request, sent after him to England in the autumn of 1532, and he had ignored the calls made upon him by the Painters’ Guild during the six years of his absence, for fulfilling his share of various official and ceremonial duties. Probably he was quite unaware that such calls had been made. Now, however, that he was in Henry VIII’s pay, it was necessary that some definite arrangement should be made, which would enable him to remain in England at least some years longer without risk of unpleasant consequences. The Council, seeing that he had become a painter of high reputation, known far beyond the confines of Switzerland, were more anxious than ever to keep him in Basel. Aware, however, that they were not rich enough to find him employment as remunerative as that enjoyed by him at the English court, they effected a compromise. A document was drawn up, after consultation with the painter, in which a much more generous offer was made to him than the one proposed in 1532. This agreement, which was signed on behalf of the Council by Jakob Meyer, “zum Hirschen,” after extolling Holbein’s reputation as a painter, offered him a pension of fifty gulden a year, with permission to remain in England for two years longer, during which time they would pay his wife a pension of forty gulden. After his final return to Basel, he was still to be permitted to receive service money from foreign kings, princes, nobles, and cities, and, in order to sell his pictures, was to be allowed to visit France, England, Milan, or the Netherlands once, twice, or thrice a year for that purpose.

The document runs as follows:

“Master Hans Holbein the painter’s Pension.”

“We, Jacob Meyger, Burgomaster, and the Council of the city of Basel, do make known and acknowledge with this letter that:

“From the special and favourable will which we bear to the honourable Hans Holbein, the painter, our dear citizen, since he is famous beyond other painters on account of the wealth of his art; weighing further that in matters belonging to our city respecting building affairs and other things which he understands, he can aid us with his counsel, and that in case we had to execute painting work on any occasion, he should undertake the same, for suitable reward, we have therefore consented, arranged, and pledged to give and to present to the above-named Hans Holbein a free and right pension from our treasury of fifty gulden, though with the following conditions, and only during his lifetime, whether he be well or ill, yearly, in equal parts at the four quarters.

“As however the said Hans Holbein has now sojourned for some time with the King’s Majesty in England, and according to his declaration it is to be feared that he can scarcely quit the Court for the next two years, we have allowed him under these circumstances to remain in England the two years following this date, in order to merit a gracious discharge, and to receive salary, and have consented during these two years to pay his wife residing among us forty gulden yearly, i.e. ten gulden quarterly, which are to begin from next Christmas, as the end of the first quarter. With the addition that in case Hans Holbein should receive his discharge from England within these two years and should return to us at Basel and remain here, that we should from that moment give him his pension of fifty gulden, and let it be paid to him in equal parts at the end of the quarter. And, as we can well imagine that the said Holbein, with his art and work being of so far more value than that they should be expended on old walls and houses, cannot with us alone reap much advantage, we have therefore allowed the said Holbein, that, unimpeded by our agreement, for the sake of his art and trade, and for no other unlawful and crafty matters, as we have also impressed upon him, he may gain, accept, and receive service money from foreign kings, princes, nobles, and cities; that moreover he may convey and sell the works of art which he may execute here once, twice, or thrice a year, each time with our special permission, and not without our knowledge, to foreign gentlemen in France, England, Milan, and the Netherlands. Yet on such journeys, he may not remain craftily abroad, but on each occasion he shall do his business in the speediest manner, and repair home without delay and be serviceable to us, as we have before said, and as he has promised.

“In conclusion, when the oft-mentioned Holbein has paid the debt of nature according to the will of God, and has departed from this valley of tears, then shall this warrant, pension, and present letter be at an end, and we and our descendants therefore are not pledged to give aught to anyone. All upright, honourable, and with integrity. This letter, signed with our official seal, we have given into the hand of the oft-mentioned Holbein as a true document. Wednesday the sixteenth day of October, anno xxxviii.”[334]

This document shows very clearly that though the civic authorities of Basel were anxious to retain Holbein in their service, they were doubtful whether they would be able to find much work for him except in the direction of an occasional wall-painting or decoration of a house-front; and his talents, they acknowledged, were too great to be devoted to nothing but the covering of “old walls and houses” with designs. They, therefore, made many concessions, which would enable him to pursue his art with almost the same freedom he had hitherto enjoyed. In spite of the liberality of the terms, however, the document remained, as far as Holbein was concerned, a dead letter throughout the five remaining years of his life; at least, no evidence has so far been discovered to show that he ever visited Basel again, though, as suggested in an earlier chapter,[335] he may have done so about the year 1541. Whether his wife received the pension of 40 gulden for the first two years is not known. There is no mention of it in the Council’s accounts, but Woltmann suggests that it may have been given, as was often the case with pensions of this kind, out of the monastery revenues.

Holbein was bound to return to England for at least another six months, as he had received nine months’ salary in advance, but there can be little doubt that he had, at the time, every intention of accepting the Council’s conditions. He was, however, so popular in England, and had so much work on hand, that he found it increasingly difficult to leave, so that in the end his arrangement with the Basel Council fell to the ground. It has been suggested, too, that the death of his uncle Sigmund in Berne, in November 1540, at about the time when Holbein was due to return to Basel, may have had something to do with his determination to remain in England; for Sigmund bequeathed all his property to his “dear brother’s son Hans,” and it was handed over to the latter’s wife in his absence. The will, from which we learn that “Sigmund Holbeyn” was then a citizen of Berne, and being old, was about to make a journey to Augsburg to see his relations, continues:

“In the first place, I will and bequeath to my dear brother’s son Hans Holbeyn, the painter, citizen at Basel, both as my blood relation and my own race and name, as well as from the especial love I bear him and from the affinity in which he stands to me, the free gift of all my goods and property which I have and leave in the city of Berne, namely, my house, and courtyard, and the garden behind, standing in the Brunnengasse, on the sunny side, above by the Trom Wall, near Görg Zimmerman, the tailor’s, house. The said property is free from taxes, with the exception of five pounds interest, including the commutation-capital, which I owe out of it to Herr Bernhard Tillman, treasurer of the council at Berne, for money lent. Item, my silver utensils, household furniture, colours, painter’s gold and silver, implements for painting, and other things, nothing excepted, that he shall appropriate the same as my appointed heir, have it in his possession, do with it and live as with his own possession and property, unmolested by my sisters and by any one. What I have here bequeathed to him, will be found noted on a separate roll, so that my cousin can better inquire after it.”[336]

He left what property he possessed in Augsburg to his three sisters, Ursula Nepperschmid and Anna Elchinger in Augsburg, and Margreth Herwart in Esslingen. The will is dated September 6, 1540, and the testator died very shortly afterwards.

On the 18th of November the Berne Town Council wrote to both Basel and Augsburg notifying his heirs of his decease, and on the 10th January in the following year the property was handed over to Holbein’s stepson, as the authorised agent of his mother. The confirmation of the testament, in the name of Hans Franz Nägely, burgomaster of Berne, speaks of him as “the honourable and wise Franz Schmid, citizen of Basel,” and says that he brought “a procuracy and a letter from Elsbeth, the wife of Master Hans Holbein, the painter, citizen of Basel, and also a letter from the burgomaster and council of the town of Basel.”

This legacy would serve to some extent in place of the annuity of 40 gulden paid by the Council to Elsbeth Holbein, which would cease when her husband failed to carry out his part of the agreement. Woltmann suggests that she probably settled in Berne in consequence of this bequest, in the house on the sunny side of the Brunnengasse, although there is no documentary proof of this. On the other hand, the inventory of her household goods and property, drawn up after her death in 1549, and preserved in Basel, indicates that she never permanently severed her connection with that city.

Holbein must have set out again for England shortly after the drawing up of this agreement, and there is some reason to suppose that he travelled back by way of Paris, taking his elder son, Philip, with him, and apprenticing him in that city for six years to Jacob David, the goldsmith, who was a native, and still remained a citizen, of Basel. This information is obtained from a letter addressed to David from the Burgomaster Adelberg Meyer and the Council of Basel, dated 19th November 1545,[337] with reference to a dispute between the apprentice and his master, the latter refusing to give him his discharge on the completion of his six years’ service. This letter speaks of Holbein as deceased, and refers to Philip as a “good, pious youth,” still in his minority, and under the care of his step-brother, Franz Schmid.

David is informed that “it has credibly reached our ears that thou wilt give no discharge to Philipp Holbein (but that thou hast brought him moreover in Paris before the Lord-Lieutenant), although he has served thee honestly and honourably his six years, which were promised by his father, the deceased Hans Holbein, our citizen, now when he, at befitting opportunity, desires to depart from thee, and this not alone on account of his honest and honourable service, as was thy duty before God and in all honour. Thus thou addest one cause of complaint to another, and aimest at oppressing the good, pious youth as far as thou canst and in causing his ruin. This thine unfriendly conduct has caused us not a little regret; we had in no wise foreseen it, but had rather hoped that if any one sought to hinder another in his success and welfare, thou would’st have taken up his cause and protected him.... Besides, this Philipp Holbein is in his minority, and is under the care of Franz Schmid, his brother, our citizen, and without his help and authority is qualified for no lawsuit; it is our pleasure, therefore, and we herewith request thee as our citizen, that thou forthwith and immediately breakest off the complaint brought by thee against Philipp Holbein and allowest him, kindly and friendly to depart from thee, and because he has served thee honestly and truly, that thou givest him a good sealed letter of discharge, of which he may make use. In all this we express our earnest will and command; we have also written to the Lieutenant who is judge between you both, our citizens, not to continue the proceedings, and to refer you both hither.” The letter concludes by saying that if David feels he has a just claim against Philip, he is to cite him before the municipal court of Basel, when full justice shall be done. A letter to the same effect, and of the same date, was sent to Philip, ordering him not to enter into any further law proceedings in Paris, but to take his discharge and return to Basel, where his case would be decided by the municipal authorities.[338]

It seems clear from this letter to David that the dispute arose shortly after the completion of Philip’s six years of apprenticeship, in which case the boy must have been left in Paris in the autumn of 1539, and not of 1538. If that was so, then Holbein cannot have personally apprenticed him on his return to England from Basel, and Philip must have gone there a year later in charge of someone else. It is possible, however, that Holbein took his son with him to England, and kept him there for twelve months or so, sending or taking him to Paris in 1539. It is usually supposed that the boy in the family group of 1528 represents Philip, the elder son, born about 1522. In the picture he appears to be five or six years old. He would thus be about fifteen or sixteen in 1538—rather a late age upon which to enter his apprenticeship—and twenty-two at the date of the letter, which, however, speaks of him as still a minor.[339]

Holbein was back again in London some time before Christmas, 1538, when he received the special reward of £10 for his journey into Upper Burgundy. His first work of importance after his return was a portrait of the infant Prince Edward, then some fourteen months old. This was presented to the King on January 1, 1539, being entered in the roll of New Year’s gifts as: “By Hanse Holbyne a table of the pictour of the pince (Prince’s) grace.” In return he received from his royal master a silver-gilt covered cup supplied by Cornelis Hayes, one of the King’s goldsmiths. “To Hans Holbyne, paynter, a gilte cruse wt a cover (Cornelis) weing x oz. quarter.”

Holbein died when Edward was just six years old, so that he cannot have painted the various portraits of the Prince in which he is represented at a somewhat later period of life and after he was King, though at one time they were all attributed to him. There are only three portraits of him, and a few drawings, which show him as a child of tender years, of which the authorship can be given to Holbein. The picture in the Provinzial Museum, Hanover, is generally regarded as the original work which he painted as a New Year’s gift for the King. An almost identical picture is in the possession of the Earl of Yarborough, which some writers regard as an unquestionable work of Holbein, while others consider it to be merely an excellent old copy.

The Hanover picture[340] is a life-size, half-length figure, facing the spectator. The child is dressed in a red velvet coat trimmed with gold, and sleeves of gold brocade. A red hat, with gold tags and a large ostrich feather, tied under the chin, surmounts the closely-fitting cap, from beneath which his fair hair falls over his forehead. His right hand is held out with open palm, and in his left he grasps a gold rattle. In front of him is a stone or panel on which eight lines of Latin verse from the pen of Sir Richard Morysin are inscribed, exhorting the Prince to imitate his wonderful father. “Little one, imitate your father,” the lines run, “and be the heir of his virtue, the world contains nothing greater—Heaven and Nature could scarcely give a son whose glory should surpass that of such a father. You only equal the acts of your parent, the wishes of men cannot go beyond this. Surpass him, and you have surpassed all the kings the world ever worshipped, and none will ever surpass you.”[341] The head stands out well against the sky-blue background. The round, chubby face, and small fat hands, are most truthfully and delightfully rendered, while the colour scheme is very harmonious. It is, indeed, in all ways, a most sympathetic and delightful study of childhood.

The almost equally charming little work in the Earl of Yarborough’s collection (Pl. 22)[342] is practically a replica of the one in the Hanover Museum. According to Wornum, it was at one time in the Arundel Collection, at Stafford House, and was sold in 1720, subsequently passing into the possession of Sir Richard Worsley, of Appuldurcombe, Isle of Wight, and afterwards to the present owner. The same writer notes some few peculiarities in its execution—“some defects in the right hand, and a certain want of transparency, or a mealyness in the colouring, that are not entirely consistent with Holbein’s practice.”[343] It is most probably an old and careful copy after the original at Hanover. It was in the Tudor Exhibition, 1890 (No. 174), and the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1909 (No. 62).

Charles I had a copy of this portrait made by Peter Oliver, signed “P. O.,” and inscribed “Edwardus Princeps Filius Henrici Octavi Regis Angliae.” In the King’s catalogue it is described by Van der Doort as: “22. Item, the picture of King Edward VI in his infancy, in a red cap with a white feather, and a red coat laced with gold, and golden cloth sleeves, holding in his left hand a round golden rattle, and with his right hand in some action; by a green table, whereupon is written in white and black letters. Being in a black shutting frame. Painted upon the wrong light. 4¾ in. × 2 in.” A marginal note describes it as “copied by Peter Oliver after Hans Holbein, whereof my Lord Arundel has the principal limning.” Wenceslaus Hollar engraved the picture in 1650,[344] when it was in the Arundel Collection.[345]

The Duke of Northumberland’s version, at Syon House,[346] is larger, and the Prince is shown at full-length. It resembles the two others in most particulars, and appears to be based on the same original drawing, though the sitter looks somewhat younger. He is wearing a jacket of patterned cloth of gold, and over it a crimson frock or coat embroidered with golden stripes. His head is covered with a white-edged, striped skull-cap, beneath which a fringe of fair hair falls on the forehead; over this is worn a red hat with a dark feather in it. Thick-soled, broad-toed shoes complete his costume. He is standing on a green velvet cloth edged with gold, which is thrown over an ornamental stone tablet containing, as in the other versions, Morysin’s Latin verses. The background is a dark green curtain. It is painted on panel, 4 ft. 3 in. high by 2 ft. 5 in. wide.

This picture has suffered considerably from rubbing and cleaning. The preliminary chalk drawing can be plainly seen through the thin painting. The position of the hands—which are beautifully painted—is somewhat altered, and the child is without his rattle. In one corner of the tablet is inscribed “Edwardus Princeps,” and in the other “Filius Henrici 8,” now almost obliterated. Mr. Wornum[347] thought it probable that this was the New Year’s gift picture, as the child appears to be a little younger than in the Hanover and Yarborough versions, and with a still brighter expression of face.

All three pictures seem to have been based upon the same drawing in the Windsor Collection, in which the Prince is shown full-face, as a young child, with a close skull-cap, and a black cap with a feather above it, and a single frill round his neck.[348] This drawing has been badly rubbed. There is a second drawing in the same collection, also full-face, with hair cut closely across the forehead, and a plain black hat (Pl. 23).[349] This, too, has suffered considerable damage. The strong brush-work of the outlines stands out with undue emphasis, owing to the destruction of the more delicate modelling of the crayons. In this drawing the Prince appears to be at least a couple of years older than in the other drawing, or in the Hanover picture and its variants. He looks quite four or five years old. Mr. Wornum thought it might represent Henry Brandon, afterwards Duke of Suffolk, from its likeness to the boy in Holbein’s beautiful miniature, the proportions of the face not quite agreeing with those of the infant Prince;[350] but it is undoubtedly a portrait of the latter.

There is a third drawing of Edward VI at Windsor, in which he seems to be quite six, if not older. It is one of the least pleasing of the series, and if by Holbein, must be almost the last drawing he made, as the Prince was but six when the painter died. He is shown in profile to the left, with hat and feather, and almost yellow hair.[351] Several portraits exist which are based on this drawing, though they are not by Holbein, among the best of them being the versions in the National Portrait Gallery,[352] the Victoria and Albert Museum,[353] and the collection of Lord Sackville. The last-named was at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1909 (No. 60). In this the Prince has golden hair, a black cap with a white plume, and a purple gown lined with white fur over a pale pink doublet. His right hand, raised, holds a rose, and his gloves are in his left. The background is a greenish blue.

There is a very interesting drawing in coloured crayons by Holbein in the Basel Gallery,[354] which is described as a portrait of Edward VI, and bears considerable likeness to the various paintings and drawings in England. The face, however, is decidedly longer and more oval in shape than in the Windsor drawings; but much of the delicate modelling of the flesh has vanished during the passage of time, so that it is difficult to speak with absolute certainty as to the likeness. Most probably the attribution is the correct one. The boy, who appears to be about five years old, is dressed in a princely costume, and is holding a meerkat in the bend of his right arm, and stroking its back with his left hand. There is no portrait known which follows this drawing.

Upon one of the leaves of Holbein’s sketch-book, preserved in the Basel Gallery, there is a delightful little circular drawing of Edward when a small child,[355] evidently of about the same date as the Hanover portrait. His costume is much the same as in the pictures described, and he is seated on a cushion on the grass, fondling a small dog with his left hand. The background on either side of him is filled in with branches of oak with acorns. It may have been the first study for a miniature, or possibly a design for a medallion or hat-badge to be carried out in gold-and-enamel by one of Holbein’s goldsmith friends. In spite of its small size the likeness is evident.

The scope of this book does not permit any attempt to give a detailed list of the numerous portraits of the young prince painted after the death of Holbein, in which he is represented at an age varying from about ten to sixteen, some of them being works of very considerable merit. In the days when it was believed that Holbein lived until 1554, all these portraits were attributed to him, whereas now some other authorship must be sought. It is known that Guillim Stretes, the Dutch painter, was responsible for at least two of these portraits of the young King. According to Strype,[356] in 1551 Stretes was paid by the Privy Council “fifty marks for recompence of three great tables, made by the said Guillim, whereof two were the pictures of his Highness sent to Sir Thomas Hoby and Sir John Mason (ambassadors abroad); the third a picture of the late Earl of Surrey, attainted, and by the council’s commandant fetched from the said Guillim’s house.” In 1553 “Gillam Strettes, Dutchman,” was the King’s painter, in receipt of the high salary of £62, 10s. a year, and he continued in favour during the reign of Queen Mary.

The excellent little bust portrait of Edward, formerly in the possession of the Cokayne family at Rushton Hall, Northamptonshire, which was lent by Lord Aldenham to the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1909 (No. 63), has been attributed to this painter. It is dated 1550. Mr. Roger E. Fry,[357] on account of the delicate and personal scheme of blonde and cool colouring which it displays, considers this portrait to be by the same hand as the portraits of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, lent to the same exhibition (Nos. 21 and 46) by Lord Sackville, which have been mentioned in an earlier chapter.[358] Others exist of the same type to which Stretes’ name has been provisionally given. The Duke of Portland has a fine small full-length, undated,[359] probably from the same hand as Lord Aldenham’s panel; another whole-length belongs to Mr. Vernon J. Watney, while a third is at Southam Delabere, near Cheltenham. A very interesting portrait of a different type is at Petworth, an elaborately-painted likeness of the young King at full-length, seated on his throne, with a canopy over his head, which is dated 1547, when he was in his tenth year. This is attributed by Mr. Wornum to Stretes.[360] There is another in Christ’s Hospital which closely resembles it, and in the same building there is a second portrait of the Prince at the age of nine. There is also a fine example in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle,[361] in which the head is of the same type as that in Lord Aldenham’s picture. It is apparently by the same hand as that of the Princess Elizabeth, also at Windsor, and whether by Stretes or not, seems to be of Franco-Flemish origin. The large picture at Bridewell Hospital, representing Edward VI transferring Bridewell Palace to the City of London, was regarded in Walpole’s day as an excellent example of Holbein’s brush, and both he and Vertue, who engraved it in 1750, asserted that one of the figures in the background represented Holbein himself.[362] The occurrence which the picture commemorates, however, took place in 1553, ten years after Holbein’s death. This picture, too, has been tentatively given to Stretes, but it is a work of no great mastery, though of undoubted historical interest. Descriptions of other portraits of Edward VI will be found in a paper contributed by Mr. J. Gough Nichols, F.S.A., to Archæologia.[363] No less than sixteen, of varying degrees of merit, were lent to the Tudor Exhibition in 1890. In the inventory of King Henry VIII’s pictures made shortly after his death, dated September 8, 1547, three of the earlier portraits of the young Prince of Wales were included. Two of these were full-lengths: “The Kynge’s Majestie, the whole stature, in a gowne like crymsen satten furred with lusernes,” which was protected by a curtain of white sarcenet; and “The Kynge’s Majesty, the whole stature, stayned upon clothe” (i.e. canvas), with a curtain of green sarcenet. The first named was not included in the earlier list of King Henry’s pictures drawn up in 1542, but the latter is in that inventory, and so must have been painted before 1542, and thus represented Edward as a little child. The third portrait is merely described as “The Kynge’s Majestie.” This may have been the curious “perspective” portrait of the young Prince, now in the National Portrait Gallery (No. 1300),[364] a head within a circle surrounded by a well-painted landscape, done in 1546, which has been attributed to Stretes. According to Walpole,[365] who considered it to be the work of Marc Willems, “Gulielmus pinxit” was written on the frame. It formed part of the Royal collections from the time it was painted, but was sold by the Commonwealth in 1650 for £2. It was seen in Whitehall and described by the German traveller, Paul Hentzner, in 1598. Two miniatures of Edward were lent to the Burlington Fine Arts Club Exhibition (Case C, 13 and 19) by the Duke of Buccleuch, but these are not by Holbein.