Portrait of a Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling
Portrait of a Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling | |
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Artist | Hans Holbein the Younger |
Year | c. 1526–1528[1] |
Medium | Oil on oak[1] |
Dimensions | 56 cm × 38.8 cm (22 in × 15.3 in)[1] |
Location | National Gallery, London |
Portrait of a Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling is an
Holbein painted the portrait during his first visit to England, which lasted from summer 1526 to summer 1528. David J. King suggests it might have been done in winter, since the sitter wears a warm fur hat. During this first stay, Holbein worked largely for the circle of Thomas More and his connections: his drawing of More's ward Margaret Giggs shows her wearing the same type of hat. Holbein also painted portraits of Sir Henry Guildford and Mary, Lady Guildford, with similar decorative foliage in the background.[2]
At this stage of his career, Holbein often adapted such designs from pattern books; in his last decade he set his portrait subjects against plain backgrounds in a more iconic style. Art historian John Rowlands judges this painting "the most charming of the portraits from Holbein's first stay in England".[3]
Identification
The evidence for the identification of the sitter as Anne Lovell was uncovered by stained-glass historian David J. King while studying the windows of the parish church in East Harling, Norfolk, the Lovell family's seat. King noted the Lovell family's coat of arms in the stained glass which included squirrels. The starling can be seen to represent by a pun the place where the sitter lived which was commonly spelled 'Estharlyng' at the time.[4]
Anne (
Ownership
The portrait was at Houghton Hall from 1761 but was bought by the National Gallery in 1992 with contributions from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund and J. Paul Getty Jnr (through the American Friends of the National Gallery, London).[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling (Anne Lovell?)". The National Gallery. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ISBN 1854376454.
- ISBN 9780714823584.
- ^ King, David J. (May 2004). "Who was Holbein's Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling?". Apollo. 159 (507): 42–49.