Portrait of an Unknown Woman
It is 1527. The English Renaissance is in full swing under the young King Henry VIII. The young German painter Hans Holbein, who has come to London to seek his fortune, is delighted when he gets a commission to paint the family of Thomas More, one of England’s leading statesman and men of learning, at his country home in Chelsea. The story, seen through the eyes of More’s young ward Meg, is framed by the two portraits Holbein will paint of the family – the first when Thomas More is about to become Lord Chancellor and is at the peak of his powers, and the second, seven years later, after More has resigned his job in protest at the King’s decision to divorce his first wife, the Spanish Catholic Catherine of Aragon, and marry the Protestant Anne Boleyn. With disaster looming for the Mores, Holbein’s genius for truth-telling through his painting brings out all the family secrets in the second of the portraits.
More about this book
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extract
'You're thinking paternosterquisesincoelis'
‘It was just a room. A mean little room at the back of a mean little house, under All Hallows. But it was a room full of God.’
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review
Critical acclaim for this book
‘A brilliant study of passion, politics, religion and art.’ and plenty more praise
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inspiration
Where the idea for this book came from…
How a set of drawings gave rise to an entire historical novel
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fact v fiction
How much of the story is true?
This story is based on more historical fact than might be expected
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timeline
Important dates
A detailed timeline of the key events during the period when the book is set
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background article
Religion in the 16th century
Christianity at the crossroads… challenges to the hegemony of the Catholic church and their repercussions
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background article
Medicine in the 16th century
Three types of medic; four humours – a look into the curious medical industry at the time of the book
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background article
Common illnesses and treatments
Mistletoe – the cure for epilepsy? A list of ailments and supposed cures in the sixteenth century
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further reading
Sources and bibliography
UK cover
