Portrait of Christina of Denmark

Portrait of Christina of Denmark was painted with oil on oak panel by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1538. It was commissioned that year by Thomas Cromwell, agent for Henry VIII, as a betrothal painting following the death of the English Queen Jane Seymour. It shows the then sixteen-year-old Christina of Denmark, widowed Duchess of Milan. She was not a great beauty, but had a striking manner and strength of character. Although Henry was taken by her representations, the marriage proposal did not go ahead; not least because she was aware of Henry's earlier treatment of his wives, and said "If I had two heads, I would happily put one at the disposal of the King of England".

Art historian Derek Wilson wrote that the portrait "is the loveliest paintings of a woman [Holbein] ever painted, that is, it is one of the finest female portraits ever painted. It was acquired in 1909 by the National Gallery, London, where it is on permanent display.

Following the 1537 death of the English Queen Jane Seymour, Holbein was commissioned to paint portraits of noblewomen eligible to marry Henry VIII. Christina was Duchess of Milan, and widowed to Francesco II Sforza, who had died in 1535 when she was just thirteen. Thomas Cromwell sent Holbein and the ambassador Philip Hoby to Brussels to meet with her. He was tasked with providing a straightforward, exact portrait of the girl.

They arrived in Denmark on 10 March 1538, where on the 12th Christina sat for the portrait for three hours between 1:00 and 4:00 pm. Holbein would have been able to converse with her in his native German. That afternoon he made preparatory sketches of her head; the final oil painting was completed at some point shortly after his return to England.

Henry was so taken with the initial colour drawings for the portrait —which showed only her head— that, according to the imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys, "since he saw it he has been in much better humour than he ever was, making musicians play on their instruments all day long". Various political and practical obstacles related to her close ties with the Lutheran church thwarted the match. On the basis of the drawing, he commissioned that Holbien extend it to a full length oil panel.

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