Portrait of Jane Seymour (1509?-1537)

Jane Seymour was the third wife of the English king Henry VIII. Her expensive clothing is embroidered in gold thread, and she is wearing a string of pearls and a pendant of precious stones around her neck. Jane was Henry’s favourite wife. She gave him his long-awaited male heir to the throne, although she died in childbirth.

The court painter Hans Holbein painted several portraits of Jane Seymour, which his pupils copied. But this painting is so good that it may have been painted by Holbein himself.