This miniature is one of two extant versions of this subject in miniature by Holbein. The other version, in the Buccleuch Collection, can be traced back to Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, in whose collection it was engraved by Wenceslaus Hollar as an unnamed subject. The earliest likely reference to the present miniature in the Royal Collection is in the Inventory of goods recovered at the Restoration by Col. W. Hawley, 1660–61, where it may be identifiable as: ‘A small peice Inclineing of…
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