Hans Holbein the Younger: Sir Henry and Mary Guildford

"Portrait of Lady Mary Guildford"
by Hans Holbein the Younger

"Sir Henry Guildford, the king's treasurer from 1522, belonged to the circle of those with whom Erasmus corresponded. He commissioned Hans Holbein the Younger to paint a double portrait of himself and his wife.

Holbein's preparatory drawing of Lady Mary Guildford was done in black and colored chalks, and her position is different than in the finished oil. The drawing is very charming with her eyes glancing almost mischievously towards her husband, and the corners of her mouth engagingly turned up, unlike the serious expression in the completed oil painting. Even so, this is the drawing that Holbein traced down on the oak panel. 

Sir Henry Guildford openly displays his wealth and political power. In his right hand, he holds the rod of office, while his left thumb is hooked casually in his belt. The Order of the Garter, the highest decoration that the English monarch can bestow, adorns his chest. It is likely the portraits were commissioned upon this occasion in 1526, because the inscriptions on the panels show them completed in 1527. Like his richly decorated wife, he too wears gold brocade, which in Holbein's portraits occurs in comparable splendor only in portraits of the royal family. 

Although Sir Henry is endowed with the attributes of worldly power, his wife Mary had her portrait painted with a book of hours and a rosary, which are formal references to her piety. Though the panels were slightly different in size, they were conceived as a matching pair, as is indicated by the curtain pole that runs through both pictures and their matching blue backgrounds, decorated with the branches of vines."

These two portraits, along with nine others, bring to life the court of Henry VIII.

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Hans Holbein" by Stephanie Buck.)