This portrait, painted by Hans Holbein the Younger, may be Henry VIII's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, although the identification is controversial. It does strongly resemble a miniature portrait also identified as Catherine Howard (see the second image below).
Source: Wikimedia Commons. According to the Wikimedia site, this image is in the public domain.
And here's the miniature that also may (or may not) be Katherine Howard, painted by the same artist:
Source: Wikimedia Commons via Pinterest. According to the Wikimedia site, this image is also in the public domain.
I think the woman in the top picture looks too old to have been Katherine. The bottom picture seems like it could have been her but they both look like the same person so I am thinking that this woman isn't Katherine.
I agree that the woman in the top image looks too old to be her. Maybe the second picture is Katherine and the first is a relative??
i think she is reallly hot
Some people 500 years ago agreed with you.
I every book I've read about Henry V111, Catherine Howard, is said to have been quite beautiful, and yet I have never seen any image of her that would fit that description.
I can see her as a bit pretty in the second image, not so much in the first one. Standards of beauty change over time so maybe that's part of the problem? Or maybe these really are not pictures of Catherine Howard.
The second portrait has been proved to be Katherine Howard by various people. It was probably painted in her first Christmas as Queen, in 1540, she wears the Queen's Jewels that the reigning Queen was entitled to wear, they match the ones worn by Jane Seymour three years previously, who was Henry's 3rd wife. It is therefore extremely likely Katherine, as no one else would have been able to wear the Queen's Jewels. She was probably fifteen years old in this portrait.
The first portrait is supposedly Elizabeth Seymour, a sister to Queen Jane. She is wearing mourning clothes for the death of her husband, Katherine had no reason to ever wear mourning clothes. She looks older than Katherine would ever be. Katherine died no older than seventeen years old, this woman looks considerably older. Her facial features bear resemblance to Jane Seymour's, such as the nose and chin.
Therefore the second portrait is Katherine Howard, the first one is probably Elizabeth Seymour as a widow.
Interesting, Cbyrne, thank you.