Kathryn Howard Gallery


The Badge of Kathryn Howard.
Weidenfeld and Nicolson Archive

There is no known portrait that has ever been positively identified as being Kathryn Howard. Both images below have been said to be Henry VIII's fifth Queen. It is quite possible that all paintings (if any were made) were destroyed after Kathryn's execution. In fact, little other momentos of her short reign survive to this day.


Formerly called Kathryn Howard
(Probably Elizabeth Seymour)
Painted by an unknown artist, after Holbein
Oil on panel, 73.7 x 49.5 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London


A miniature by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) made c. 1541
Vellum mounted on playing card, 5.1cm diameter. Windsor, Royal collection

This miniature was identified at Kathryn Howard in the 1840s, but that has never been confirmed. Some reserachers are now beginning to think that this may in fact be Kathryn, based on the fact that she is wearing jewelry that had belonged to Jane Seymour. The jewelry would have been part of the 'Queen's Jewels' which means that after Jane's death, they probably would have gone back to the king and then passed on to his future wives. [One problem to this theory is that the colors of the stones don't quite appear to be the same in each painting. However, one was a miniature, and one was a full-sized portrait, which could perhaps account for some of the variations.]


From a stained glass window, the face of the woman kneeling may be
Kathryn Howard according to Lady Antonia Fraser.
The Window of the Queen of Sheba, King's College Chapel, Cambridge


The wax figure of Kathryn Howard from Madame Tussaud's in London
Photograph by Lara E. Eakins


 
 
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