an old reproduction of Anne Cresacre by Hans Holbein the Younger ( c. 1527) Black and colored chalks.
size: 36x26 cm
 
Anne Cresacre, aged 15, was the ward of Thomas More, later the wife of his son John More the Younger.
The drawing is one of the eight individual portrait studies for a group portrait of Thomas More's family preserved in the Royal Collection. Destroyed by fire at the Kremsier Castle (Czech Republic) in 1752, its appearance is preserved in an annotated drawing by Holbein, now in Kunstmuseum Basel.
There are also several later copies, including three 1592–1594 versions by Rowland Lockey: a watercolor miniature in the Victoria and Albert Museum and two oils on canvas, one in the National Portrait Gallery, and one at the Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire.
A drawing of her husband, by Holbein, from the same series, is also in the Royal Collection.
Hans Holbein was one of the most accomplished portraitists of the 16th century. Holbein was born in Augsburg in southern Germany in the winter of 1497-8. He was taught by his father, Hans Holbein the Elder. He became a member of the Basel artists' guild in 1519.
He spent two periods of his life in England, portraying the nobility of the Tudor court. Holbein's famous works are: portrait of Henry VIII (London, National Portrait Gallery) 'The Ambassadors', 'Christina of Denmark' is a portrait of a potential wife for the king.
Holbein was a highly versatile and technically accomplished artist who worked in different media. He also designed jewelry and metalwork.