_Hans Holbein_ (German: 1497-1543). _See 1314._
Amongst Holbein's duties as painter to Henry VIII. was that of taking
portraits of the ladies whom he proposed in turn to wed. After the
death of Jane Seymour, the first favourite was the lady before us, "the
demure half-smile not yet faded from her eyes"--Christina, daughter
of Christian II. of Denmark, niece of the Emperor Charles V., and
widow of the Duke of Milan. Reasons of state suggested her marriage
to Henry VIII., and Holbein was sent to Brussels, where the Duchess
was residing. Our portrait was painted a few years later than "The
Ambassadors," from a sketch made at Brussels on March 12, 1538. The
circumstances are entertainingly told in the letters of the English
envoy, John Hutton, to Thomas Cromwell. On the 10th August Hutton
had sent off a portrait by another artist to Henry VIII., that he
might judge of the appearance of the young Duchess before making her
a proposal of marriage. The next evening "Mr. Haunce" (_i.e._ Hans
Holbein) arrived in company of a servant of the king, whereupon Hutton
sent off an express-courier to fetch back the picture he had already
despatched, "for that in my opinion," he said, "it was not so perfect
as the case required, neither as the said Mr. Haunce could make it."
"The next day following at one of the clock in the afternoon, the
said Lord Benedick came for Mr. Haunce, who, having but three hours'
space, both showed himself to be master of that science, for it is very
perfect; the other is but slobbered in comparison to it, as, by the
sight of both, your Lordships shall well perceive."
The original--the study, sketch, or miniature, the result of
three hours' hard work--has disappeared; but the picture which
the master made from it after he came home is now before us. The
portrait, it would seem, did not make the king less anxious for the
match--which, however, was broken off, it will be remembered, after
long negotiations, by the hostility of the emperor. The duchess, in
spite of her tender years, seems--and the picture does not belie the
supposition--to have had a character of her own. The story of her
reply, "that she had but one head, but that if she had two, one should
be at the service of his majesty," is, indeed, now discredited; but
her actual answer, "You know I am the Emperor's poor servant and
must follow his pleasure," was, in the light of subsequent events,
equally to the point. The English envoy specially reported "her honest
countenance and the few words she wisely spoke."
The beautiful portrait before us was retained by Henry VIII., and
through the Lumley, Pembroke, and Arundel Collections it passed
into that of the Dukes of Norfolk. "Whether as a pictorial record
of an interesting chapter of our history, or as an example of the
presentment of a fresh and winning young personality by the most
masterful and at the same time most reserved and refined methods of the
painter's craft, the picture counts among the very noblest of the art
treasures still left in England. That it is so left is mainly due to
the splendid generosity of a small group of private donors, the chief
of whom elude our public thanks by choosing firmly to remain anonymous.
At the eleventh hour, when the picture was on the very point of leaving
our shores to enrich a private gallery in America, these benefactors
came forward and enabled the Committee of the National Art-Collections'
Fund to present the masterpiece to the nation." The price paid was
£72,000. (_Report of the National Art-Collections' Fund_, 1909;
Froude's _History of England_, ch. xv.) The picture had for many years
been lent to the National Gallery by the Duke of Norfolk.[261]