Portrait of Thomas Cromwell

The Portrait of Thomas Cromwell is a small oil painting by the German and Swiss artist Hans Holbein the Younger, and is usually dated c. 1532-4, when Cromwell was around 48 years old. It is one of two portraits Holbein painted of him; the other is a tondo from a series of medallions of Tudor courtiers.

The original panel is lost, known only from three copies: in the Frick Collection in New York (where it is hung opposite Holbein's Portrait of Thomas More); in the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Chichester Constable collection in Yorkshire. The Frick panel is considered superior in quality.

Thomas Cromwell was a lawyer and statesman who began as a blacksmith's son in Putney, and rose to power as an associate of Cardinal Wolsey. After Wolsey's fall and a period of initial distrust, he became a confidant of Henry VIII, assuming the roles of vice-regent, Lord Chancellor, lord high chamberlain, amongst others. A shrewd politician, he was aware of the effect of propaganda and commissioned Holbein to produce images positioning him as a reformist and royalist, including anti-clerical woodcuts and the title page for Myles Coverdale's English translation of the bible. In this he was both progressive and atuned to Henry VIII's grandiose programme of artistic patronage. The king's efforts to glorify his own status as Supreme Head of the Church culminated in the building of Nonsuch Palace, started in 1538.

Cromwell engineered the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. He was an early ally of Anne Boleyn but played a key role in her downfall. He was a significant force in the Tudor court until, hoping to strengthen the political alliance with the Protestant cause in Germany, he erred in advising Henry to marry Anne of Cleves. The move was unpopular and afforded his many enemies the chance to bring charges of treason, forcing his eventual arrest and beheading.

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