(c) 2015 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Sir William Butts

painter Hans Holbein the Younger (Augsburg, 1497 or 1498 - 1543, London)

subject Sir William Butts (English, 1485 - 1545)

Dateabout 1541-1543

Place MadeGermany, Europe

MediumOil on panel

Dimensions46.8 x 37 cm (18 7/16 x 14 9/16 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Accession numberP21e1

Status

Not on view

Web CommentaryHans Holbein the Younger is most famous as the portraitist to the court of Henry VIII. Holbein’s sober yet quietly sensitive images found great favor during the artist’s sojourns in London from 1526 to 1528 and from 1532 until the end of his life. William Butts (1485-1545) was a physician to Henry VIII and this portrait is one of a pair with his wife, Margaret Bacon, Lady Butts, also on view in the Dutch Room. In 1541, Holbein began the large group portrait, King Henry VIII Grants the Charter to the Barber-Surgeons, in which William Butts appears in the group of royal surgeons on the King’s right side. This single portrait was most likely done after Sir William was knighted in 1544.

Id719144

Last Updated8/9/24

EmbARK ObjectID11866

Source ID1024