Queen Catherine Parr (1512–1548)
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1700 - 1799
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
557 x 394 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 515505
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Queen Catherine Parr (1512–1548), British (English) School, circa 18th century. A half-length portrait, facing to left, no hands visible; head and grey eyes slightly to left, auburn hair worn beneath a white coif edged with pearls; black bonnet decorated with gold aglets and white spangled feather. She wears a crimson damask dress decorated with bands of gold embroidery and gold aglets; pearl and jewelled necklace with large pendant jewel. Inscribed: 'Catherine Parr - uxor - 6 - Henria Octavia'. The original oil painting on panel of around 1545/50, attributed to Guillaume Scrots, is in the National Portrait Gallery. Scots was a Netherlandish artist who succeeded Holbein as court painter after his death in 1543. Catherine Parr was the sixth and last Queen of Henry VIII, daughter of Sir Thomas Parr (d. 1517) of Kendal and Maud Green, daughter of Sir Thomas Green of Green’s Norton, Northamptonshire. She was born either at Kendal Castle, Westmorland or at her father’’s house in Blackfriars, London. She married firstly Edward de Burgh, 2nd Baron Borough (d.1529), secondly John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer (1493-1542) as his third wife. She was ready to marry Sir Thomas Seymour, brother of Jane Seymour (1508-1537) when she was forced to marry King Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She showed great kindness to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI (1537-1553) and Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth (1533-1603). She tried to diminish religious persecution and was regent during Henry VIII's French expedition in 1544. Her life was endangered by Protestant leanings and she was disgusted by her husband's brutalities to Elizabeth but outlived him. After the King’s death she did marry Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Sudeley (1508-1549) and gave birth to a daughter, Mary, at Sudeley Castle in August 1548 but died in childbirth. She is buried in Sudeley Castle Chapel.
Provenance
Bequeathed to the National Trust by Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966) with the house and the rest of the contents.
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, The Fairhaven Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Catherine Parr - uxor - 6 - Henria Octavia
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist after Guillaume Scrots (fl.1537-1553) , artist
References
Strong 1969 Roy Strong, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, London 1969 [2 vols], p.364, no.4168, and Pl.691: “Catherine Parr (1512-1548) 4168. Oil on panel, 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cms, attributed to William Scrots. This portrait has the greatest claim to represent Queen Catherine Parr and has an uninterrupted history as depicting her from before 1643. A second version, apparently a typical workshop person for a long gallery set of kings and queens is at Fairhaven Abbey (sic.) (now under the Fitzwilliam Museum) (ex Seymour collection Christie’s 19 January 1945 (lot 38) and probably ex Stover, Christie’s 28 June 1890 (lot 15). This bears an early inscription identifying it as her (Pl.691).” Caption to Pl.691 – “Catherine Parr. By an unknown artist (Anglesey Abbey).” Anglesey Abbey, 1990-1992 [The National Trust; Robin Fedden] 1972, revised 1990, reprinted 1992., 1992, p.19: “The Prior’s Room …beside the door hang portraits of Margaret Wootton, Lady Dorset, and Katherine Parr, sixth and last wife of Henry VIII, who was spared to marry Lord Seymour.” Anglesey Abbey, 2005 [The National Trust] 2002, revised 2005, 2005, p.15: “The Prior’s Room. Pictures By the door is a series of portraits of Tudor noblewomen, including Margaret Wootton…..”