Thomas Howard, Third Duke of Norfolk (1473-1554)

Around 1539, when Holbein painted him, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, stood about as close to the top of Henry the Eighth's England as a subject could. He was the uncle of Anne Boleyn, executed three years earlier, and within a year another of his nieces, Katherine Howard, would become the king's fifth wife. Holbein puts his two great offices into his hands. The gold baton is the Earl Marshal's, the white staff belongs to the Lord High Treasurer, and the collar of the Order of the Garter lies across a coat lined with lynx fur. Holbein rarely used this three-quarter-length format, and it makes the Duke look larger than he was. A Venetian ambassador described him as small and spare. The inscription at the top is in English, unlike the Latin on Holbein's other portraits, and was probably added early on. In 1546 the Duke was imprisoned for treason, and he survived only because Henry died the night before the day set for his execution.