Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex
5 of 265 portraits matching these criteria:
- subject matching 'Miniatures'
- 'Image on website'
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex
studio of Hans Holbein the Younger
watercolour and bodycolour on vellum, circa 1537
1 3/4 in. (44 mm) diameter
Purchased with help from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund, 1994
Primary Collection
NPG 6311
Sitterback to top
- Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex (circa 1485-1540), Statesman. Sitter associated with 28 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Hans Holbein the Younger (1497 or 1498-1543), Painter, printmaker and designer; son of Hans Holbein the Elder. Artist or producer associated with 310 portraits, Sitter associated with 25 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This portrait is mounted in the same case as an earlier miniature of Cromwell from which it is derived. This version, probably from Holbein's studio, must have been painted following the sitter's election to the Order of the Garter in 1537 as he is shown wearing the collar of the Greater George. The gold locket is late eighteenth or early nineteenth century in date and housed both miniatures back to back.
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Hans Holbein Re-made (4 March 2014 - 31 August 2014)
- Tudor Miniatures (From 6 November 2004)
Events of 1537back to top
Current affairs
Prince Edward (later King Edward VI) is born at Hampton Court. His mother, Jane Seymour dies twelve days later.Leaders of the Pilgrimage of Grace popular rising against Church reforms and enclosure are captured and executed.
The English translation of the Bible by Miles Coverdale becomes the first complete Bible to be printed in England.
Art and science
The German artist Hans Holbein the Younger paints a dynastic portrait of King Henry VIII, his third wife, Jane Seymour, and his parents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, on a wall of the privy chamber in Whitehall Palace (destroyed in the fire of 1698).International
Francis I of France and Suleiman I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire agree to act together against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.Christian III, King of Denmark and Norway introduces Lutheran Protestantism as the state religion.
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