Queen Catherine (of Aragon) (1485-1536)
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1500 - 1599
Materials
Oil on oak panel
Measurements
350 x 270 mm
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1129157
Caption
Catherine of Aragon was the daughter of Ferdinand V, King of Aragon and Isabella I, of Spain. She married Arthur, Prince of Wales (1486-1502) in 1501, and remarried his brother, Henry VIII on 11 June 1509 at Greenwich Palace. She was crowned Queen Consort on 24 June 1509 in Westminster Abbey. Of six children, only Mary Tudor (1516-1558) survived beyond infancy. Her marriage to Henry VIII was annulled on 23 May 1533 by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury on the grounds that she had been the wife of her husband’s brother and therefore her marriage was against religion, allowing Henry to continue his pursuit of a son. She died on 7 January 1536, probably of cancer and was buried in Peterborough Cathedral. Her original tomb was destroyed in 1642 but its site is known and her bones lie beneath the flagstones of the cathedral.
Summary
Oil painting on oak panel, Queen Catherine (of Aragon) (1485-1536), British (English) School, 16th century. Inscribed top left of head: Katerina / Dowegia. Inscribed top right of head: Regina / Angliae. [=erroneously Catherine Parr]. A portrait bust, turned slightly to left, gazing to left, wearing red dress showing white chemise at neckand Spanish hood edged with gold. She was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and married in Henry VIII in 1509 and was divorced in 1533. Similar versions are at: the National Portrait Gallery (163), Merton College, Oxford (ex-Northwick Park), National Museums of Wales and the Museum of Art, Boston.
Provenance
In Inventory of the contents of Hardwick Hall made in 1601 and attached to the will of Elizabeth Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury (c.1520-1608) and thence by descent until, following the death of Edward William Spencer Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire (1895 - 1950), Hardwick Hall and its contents were accepted by HM Treasury in part payment of death duties and transferred to the National Trust, in 1959
Credit line
Hardwick Hall, The Devonshire Collection (acquired through the National Land Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1959)
Marks and inscriptions
above Katerina Doweria Reginae/Angliae
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist