Lot 1686
AFTER HANS HOLBEIN THE YOUNGER (c.1497-1543) PORTRAIT OF JOHN GODSALVE Half length, wearing a grey coat, black cloak with fur collar and hat, holding a letter (bears inscription Sir John Godsalve/ 1547), oil on panel, with a later gilt frame decorated with boldly carved leaves and scrolls 50.5 x 36.5cm. * Godsalve (c.1505-1556) had been painted with his father, Thomas, in 1528, during Holbein's first sojourn in England. In 1531, Godsalve had become Clerk of the King's Signet and was appointed to the Office of Common Meter of Precious Tissues the following year: his prominence ensured that he became one of Holbein's first sitters upon the painter's return to Henry VIII's court in 1532. Godsalve went on to become Comptroller of the Royal Mint. The subject derives from a carefully finished drawing, presumably done in preparation for an oil painting that has not survived (Royal Collection Trust, c.1532-1533). The subtlety of Godsalve's glance exemplifies Holbein's skilful experimentation with immediacy and realism that so defined his portraiture in the 1530s. Provenance: By descent in the family of Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick (1783-1848), Goodrich Court, Herefordshire
