Lady Lee (Margaret Wyatt, born about 1509)

Holbein's portrait of Lady Lee (Margaret Wyatt, born c. 1509, early 1540s) depicts a member of the Wyatt family — the poet Thomas Wyatt's sister — at the English court. Margaret Wyatt had been a childhood friend of Anne Boleyn and attended her at the scaffold, experiences that gave her personal witness to the most violent episodes of Henry's reign. Holbein's portrait, painted in the early 1540s when he was at the peak of his English production, shows his mastery of the female court portrait: the careful rendering of the coif and costume establishing social identity while the face's restrained expression maintains the decorum expected of a court lady.

Holbein's technique in oil and gold on oak achieves remarkable precision, with the sitter's features modeled with subtle tonal gradations and the headdress and costume rendered with minute accuracy. The gold accents add decorative richness, while the clear, even lighting reveals every detail of the sitter's face and costume.