Portrait of a Young Woman

private collection, England (in or shortly before 1910); [art dealer, London, in 1910; sold to Hollitscher]; Carl von Hollitscher, Berlin (1910–at least 1912; cat., 1912, no. 18, as by a Netherlandish Master, about 1535); Camillo Castiglioni, Vienna (until 1925; his sale, Frederik Muller, Amsterdam, November 17–20, 1925, no. 43); private collection, England; [Édouard Brandus, until 1926; as "English Princess," by the Master of Mary Tudor; sold for $12,161.87 to Bache]; Jules S. Bache, New York (1926–d. 1944; his estate, 1944–49; cats., 1937, no. 33; 1943, no. 32)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Bache Collection," June 16–September 30, 1943, no. 32 (as "An English Princess," by the 16th-century Master of Queen Mary Tudor).

Paris. Orangerie des Tuileries. "Le Portrait dans l'art flamand de Memling à Van Dyck," October 21, 1952–January 4, 1953, no. 39.

Max J. Friedländer in Die Gemälde-Sammlung des Herrn Carl von Hollitscher in Berlin. Ed. Wilhelm von Bode and Max J. Friedländer. Berlin, 1912, pp. 11–12, 32, no. 18, ill., notes that Hollitscher purchased it from a private collection in England in 1910; finds the costume comparable to the dress seen in certain of Holbein's English court portraits of 1535; compares the drawing of the hands with that in a female portrait by Holbein in the Lanckoronski collection, Vienna [possibly MMA 49.7.30, "Portrait of a Young Woman," Style of Holbein] but does not view this portrait as a Holbein copy or the work of a Holbein imitator; is convinced that the artist was a Netherlander familiar with Holbein's work, who was active in the English court about 1535, and suggests the remote possibility that it's author might be Joos van Cleve; notes that Hollitscher believes this portrait represents the young Queen Mary as a princess, observing that in 1535 she would have been 19 years old.

A Catalogue of Paintings in the Bache Collection. under revision. New York, 1937, unpaginated, no. 33, ill., identify the sitter as an English princess, and ascribe the portrait to the 16th-century "Master of Queen Mary Tudor"; cite the opinion of Paul Ganz [see Ganz n.d.].

A Catalogue of Paintings in the Bache Collection. rev. ed. New York, 1943, unpaginated, no. 32, ill.

Harry B. Wehle and Margaretta Salinger. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Early Flemish, Dutch and German Paintings. New York, 1947, pp. 139–40, ill., note that the gown and bonnet worn by the sitter are of a type known from portraits of Holbein and worn by members of the English court between 1530 and 1540; observe that although the pose suggests Holbein, the handling is much closer to Joos van Cleve, who also worked in England about 1530; reject the identification of the sitter as Mary Tudor, noting that "the eyes of the subject of our portrait are blue, not brown like those of the queen" [Mary Tudor's eyes were, in fact, light bluish grey (see Ref. Marshall 1992)].

Millia Davenport. The Book of Costume. New York, 1948, vol. 1, p. 433, no. 1158, ill. (cropped).

Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 36.

Erik Larsen. Les primitifs flamands au Musée Metropolitain de New York. Utrecht, 1960, p. 93, finds it closer to Holbein than to Flemish art.

Jacques Guillouet. Letter. n.d. [probably 1965], tentatively ascribes this portrait to Barthel Bruyn the Elder comparing it with a female portrait belonging to the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, that was on deposit at the Mauritshuis, The Hague (no. 889).

Hildegard Westhoff-Krummacher. Letter to Philippe de Montebello. January 6, 1967, rejects any possible association of this picture with Barthel Bruyn or the Cologne School and believes it was produced in Antwerp.

Rosalind K. Marshall. Letter to Katharine Baetjer. June 3, 1992, notes that Mary Tudor's eyes were "light bluish grey," as can be seen in two paintings owned by the National Portrait Gallery, London; observes that "The features [of our portrait] do seem . . . to bear a resemblance to those of Mary as seen in, for example, the drawing thought to be her in the Royal Collection".

Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 273, ill.

From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Maryan W. Ainsworth and Keith Christiansen. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1998, p. 410, ill.