Hans Holbein the Younger: Christina of Denmark

"Portrait of Christina of Denmark"
by Hans Holbein the Younger

"After the death of Jane Seymour, Henry VIII's third wife, Hans Holbein the Younger was commissioned to paint portraits of noblewomen eligible to become the next English queen. The first approached was a the daughter of the king of Denmark, Christina. She had been widowed at the very young age of fifteen, after a marriage of two years, and was still wearing black a year later. 

We know how the portrait sittings were done from a description by John Hutton, the English envoy in Brussels, in a letter dated March 14, 1538, and addressed to Thomas Cromwell. According to this, the courtier Philip Hobby arrived in Brussels on March 10 accompanied by 'a sarvand of the Kynges Majesties namyd Mr. Haunce,' in other words Hans Holbein. Hutton had already had a portrait of her sent to England before Holbein arrived, but this he considered neither as good as the affair required nor as 'Mr. Haunce' could do it. The envoy arranged for a sitting at one o'clock on March 12, and it lasted for three hours. In this short time, there arose the beginning of a portrait compared with which, according to Hutton, the earlier portrait seemed 'but sloberid [slobbered]'.

Holbein must have painted the full-length panel portrait on the basis of the preparatory material, but he certainly brought the life-size, slender form to life with great effect. Her attitude and gestures radiate self-assurance and strong-mindedness, features of Christina's personality that would be commented on by others. Holbein was already back in London on March 18, 1538, and when Henry VIII saw the portrait, he fell in love with the sitter. It was said he was in so excellent a mood that he had musicians play to him all day.

However, Christina and her mother made no secret of their opposition to her marrying the English king, who by this time had a reputation around Europe for his mistreatment of wives. He had divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon (Christina's great-aunt), and beheaded his second, Anne Boleyn. Christina supposedly said, "If I had two heads, one should be at the King of England's disposal." Henry pursued the marriage until January 1539, when it became obvious that the match would never take place. Thomas Wriothesley, the English diplomat in Brussels, advised Thomas Cromwell that Henry should; "fyxe his most noble stomacke in some such other place.'"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Hans Holbein" by Stephanie Buck and "Christina of Denmark": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_of_Denmark)