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HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger: Portrait of Anne of Cleves

🖼 Portrait of Anne of Cleves, c. 1539
Parchment mounted on canvas
65 × 48 cm
Paris, France

Pale complexion and jeweled headdress dominate this frontal portrait, rendered with Holbein's precise detail and cool palette. The painting secured Anne's marriage to Henry VIII, making it historically pivotal—yet her stern expression hints at the doomed union ahead.

The story of art
The story of art
E. H. Gombrich
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