Portrait of a Woman

Portrait of a Woman, painted around 1532 during Holbein's second English period, belongs to his extensive production of female portraits for the Tudor aristocracy and gentry. The three-quarter bust, the elaborate headdress, and the composed expression project the social identity of a woman within the strict conventions of Tudor feminine representation. Holbein's female portraits are distinguished from the convention by the quality of psychological observation: the faces above the formal costumes are rendered with the same uncompromising attention he brought to men, regardless of the social convention that women should present composed passivity rather than active engagement with the observer. This particular woman, unidentified, gazes out with a directness that makes her specific presence felt across nearly five centuries.

The woman's features are rendered with Holbein's characteristic precision. The detailed rendering of costume and headdress provides valuable evidence of Tudor female fashion.