Lucas Horenbout
Lucas Horenbout arrived in England sometime in the mid-1520s carrying a tradition that had almost nowhere else to go. He had grown up in Ghent, trained by a father who was one of the last great practitioners of Netherlandish illuminated manuscript painting. By the time Lucas crossed the Channel, that art form was dying on the Continent. What happened next was something no one could have predicted: the arrival of this Fleming at the court of Henry VIII did not simply transplant an old craft. It gave birth to an entirely new one.
How does a single painter transform what court art looks like in an entire country? What does it mean to hold the title of King's Painter for nearly two decades? And what became of the family workshop he left behind after his death in 1544?
Ghent in the early sixteenth century was the setting for Lucas Horenbout's formation as an artist. His father, Gerard Horenbout, was a significant figure in the Ghent-Bruges school of illuminated manuscript painting, a tradition that drew some of the finest decorative painters in Europe. Lucas joined the local Guild of Saint Luke in 1512, a formal mark of his training's completion and his standing as a professional.
Gerard's own career traced the twilight of a magnificent tradition. He served as court painter to Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands, from 1515 to around 1522. Margaret held a particular significance for the family's later move to England: she was twice sister-in-law to Catherine of Aragon, who was already married to Henry VIII when the Horenbouts made the crossing. Those dynastic connections may have smoothed the path across the Channel, though the exact circumstances remain uncertain.
Gerard is also sometimes identified with the so-called "Master of James IV of Scotland", one of several artistic personalities the art world has named for a significant illuminator in the Ghent-Bruges school but has never been able to attach to a historical person with confidence. Whether or not that identification holds, Gerard's standing in the final phase of Netherlandish illumination is not in dispute. It was in that environment that Lucas learned his craft.
September 1525 is the first documented date of Lucas Horenbout's presence in England, when royal accounts record him being paid as "pictor maker". The appointment grew steadily in official weight. By 1531 he carried the title of "King's Painter", and in June 1534 that role was confirmed for life when he became a "denizen", a status equivalent to naturalised citizenship.
His salary reflected just how seriously the crown valued him. Lucas was paid sixty-two pounds and ten shillings per year, though another source puts the figure at thirty-three pounds and six shillings. Either way, Roy Strong described even the lower figure as a "huge" sum. For comparison, Hans Holbein the Younger earned thirty pounds a year during his own period as Henry's court painter. Horenbout also received a tenement at Charing Cross and the right to take on four foreign journeymen, privileges that underline his standing within the royal household.
The suggestion has been made that the Horenbout family came to England partly to help revive English manuscript illumination, perhaps at the instigation of Cardinal Wolsey or the King himself. If a workshop was established in London with that goal, the historical record has not confirmed it cleanly. What the record does confirm is that Lucas worked continuously for Henry until his death in 1544.
Portrait miniature painting in England begins, by most accounts, at the precise moment of Horenbout's arrival. Before him, there were almost no Continental precedents for the form. Three lost miniatures possibly by Jean Clouet, sent from the French court to the English, may have pointed in the direction of what was coming, but they left no school behind.
Twenty-three surviving portrait miniatures have generally been attributed to Horenbout in recent decades. All but one are of members of English or other royal families, and paintings of at least four of Henry's queens are among them. A high proportion of those that can be dated come from the 1520s, the early years of his time at court.
The one exception among his attributed works, a portrait of Holbein painted in 1543, is considered among his most accomplished pieces. Horenbout based the face on a self-portrait drawing by Holbein himself, which may explain some of its quality, since Horenbout's own drawing skills were not regarded as his strongest suit. For many years the work was assumed to be a Holbein self-portrait. Technical examination eventually showed that its style diverged clearly from Holbein's own miniature work: there was, as the analysis put it, "an absence of his subtle gradations of flesh tone and colour" and "no sign of the extremely thin pen-like lines which are so notable a feature in Holbein's drawing of such details as the embroidered edges of costume". The better of two attributed versions is held in the Wallace Collection. Given that Holbein died before Horenbout, the miniature may have been painted in the six-month window between the two men's deaths.
Karel van Mander, the Flemish writer on art, recorded that a painter named "Lucas" taught the art of illumination to Hans Holbein the Younger. Van Mander assumed this Lucas was Horenbout, and the identification has generally been accepted. Holbein was himself a court artist of Henry's, and the overlap between the two men's careers at the English court would have made such a transfer of knowledge plausible.
The claim has also been doubted, and the primary source is not unambiguous. Still, if Horenbout did instruct Holbein in miniature technique, the consequences for European art history were considerable. Holbein went on to produce some of the most celebrated portrait miniatures of the sixteenth century. The pupil, in the judgment of later centuries, came to eclipse the teacher. That the teacher may have been working in the shadow of his own student by the early 1540s gives the 1543 Holbein portrait an additional layer of meaning.
Royal documents provide another surviving thread of Horenbout's work. Illuminated decorations on certain charters, Acts, and similar royal papers are attributed to him, and an illuminated manuscript at Hatfield House containing two elaborate full-page miniatures has been connected to him or his sister Susanna. Some illuminations in the celebrated Sforza Hours have been attributed, more tentatively, to one of the two.
Roy Strong also linked Horenbout to the artist known only as the Master of the "Cast Shadow Workshop", who produced a series of panel portraits of English monarchs, mostly described as rather undistinguished, presumably for the King's use. If the identification is correct, it expands Horenbout's output significantly beyond miniatures.
Fine illuminations in a collection of works by John Lydgate, held in the British Library, and the Letters Patent for Cardinal College, now in the Public Record Office, are also attributed to the Horenbout family, though without specifying whether the work was by Gerard, Lucas, or Susanna. Cardinal College was Cardinal Wolsey's foundation in Oxford; after his fall from power it was renamed Christ Church.
The Horenbout family arrived in England as a working unit. Susanna Hornebolt, Lucas's sister, was an illuminator in her own right. She is documented in England in 1529, by which point she had married a man named John Palmer. Earlier, in May 1521, Albrecht Durer had recorded purchasing one of her miniatures in Antwerp, a detail that places her reputation firmly in the Continental world before she crossed to England.
Their father Gerard is first recorded in England in 1528. He later returned to the Continent, probably after 1531, and had died in Ghent by 1540. Lucas had married around 1525, taking Margaret Holsewyther, an artist of German descent who had probably been born in England, as his wife.
When Lucas died in London he was buried at Saint Martin in the Fields. He left his studio to be divided, unequally, between his wife Margaret and his daughter Jacquemine. The studio continued working after his death. Queen Catherine Parr paid Margaret sixty shillings three years after Lucas died, presumably for miniatures his wife had produced. Catherine Parr had also been a client during Lucas's lifetime, and a portrait of her once attributed to him was eventually established to have been painted after his death.
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Common questions
Who was Lucas Horenbout and why is he significant in art history?
Lucas Horenbout was a Flemish-born painter who worked at the English court of Henry VIII from 1525 until his death in 1544. He is credited with founding the English school of portrait miniature painting, a tradition that had almost no precedents in England before his arrival.
What title did Lucas Horenbout hold at the court of Henry VIII?
Horenbout held the title of King's Painter. He was first paid as "pictor maker" from September 1525, was described as King's Painter by 1531, and had the appointment confirmed for life in June 1534 when he also became a denizen, effectively a naturalised citizen.
How much was Lucas Horenbout paid as Henry VIII's court painter?
Horenbout was paid sixty-two pounds and ten shillings per year, though a conflicting source gives the figure as thirty-three pounds and six shillings. Either amount was described by Roy Strong as "huge" and exceeded Hans Holbein's salary of thirty pounds a year during his own period as Henry's court painter.
Did Lucas Horenbout teach Hans Holbein the Younger to paint miniatures?
Karel van Mander recorded that a painter named "Lucas" taught the art of illumination to Hans Holbein the Younger, and that Lucas is assumed to be Horenbout. However, the claim has been doubted, and the original source is not unambiguous.
How many portrait miniatures are attributed to Lucas Horenbout?
Twenty-three surviving portrait miniatures have generally been attributed to Horenbout in recent decades. Almost all are of members of English or other royal families, including paintings of at least four of Henry VIII's queens.
Who was Susanna Hornebolt and what is her connection to Lucas Horenbout?
Susanna Hornebolt was Lucas Horenbout's sister and herself an illuminator. Albrecht Durer recorded buying a miniature by her in Antwerp in May 1521. She is documented in England in 1529, married to a John Palmer, and illuminations at Hatfield House and in the Sforza Hours have been attributed to her or to Lucas.
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1 references cited across the entry
- 1webHolsewyther, Margaret (b. c. 1504, d. after 1560), royal miniaturistSusan James — 2020