Art Bite: Thomas Cromwell's Book of Hours

Art of History

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When historians first made the link between a book of hours at Trinity College, Cambridge and two others belonging to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, they weren't just identifying who owned it. Yes, yes - the book was owned by Henry VIII's right-hand-man (for a time, at least): Thomas Cromwell. But this remarkable book has now become the only object from any 16th-century portrait to survive to this day.

What can such an item tell us about the man who owned it, his times, and what he wanted everyone who saw his portrait to know?

Today's artwork(s): Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex (1532-33). Oil on panel, 30.7 in × 25.2 in. Frick Collection, New York.

AND the 1527 Book of Hours, on display at Hever Castle through November 2023.

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