Miniature in Miniature Box
Portrait of Anne of Cleves, 4th Queen of Henry VIII
Watercolour on vellum
Box - turned ivory
Painted by Hans Holbein (1497 - 1543)
Possibly English or German
1539

A circular, face-to-view bust portrait of Anne of Cleves in a black frame, mounted in carved ivory box. She is wearing an elaborate jewelled & gilt Tudor head-dress with a sheer lace veil hanging across the top of her forehead and framing her face. Her face is young, pale and open with slight, dark brows, almost sleepy brown eyes, a faint blush on her cheeks and a thin-lipped but smiling mouth. She is wearing two heavy gold chains and a jet & gold cross on a bodice of gold-coloured fabric & lace with red sleeves. She is painted against a royal blue background.

The lid of the box is surmounted by a many petalled flower of turned & carved ivory (looking not unlike a crystal Rose of the Desert). Each circular layer is extremely fine making the whole flower very delicate. This rests on the facetted ivory lid which appears to frame it in this image.

Holbein painted a full-size portrait of Anne as a prospective bride for Henry VIII. This miniature probably dates from the same time. Miniatures were items for personal use, pinned to clothes or, in this case, as a keepsake kept in a special box. Anne's marriage to the King lasted six months. She was divorced and lived in comfortable retirement.