Susanna Hornebolt grows up in a family of artists and enters Tudor court service at a time when women’s professional work is rarely recorded. Her skill brings her into the orbit of Henry VIII, court portraiture and the negotiations surrounding Anna of Kleve. The story reconstructs the possibilities and limits of a female artist whose career survives mostly in fragments.
Susanna’s position depends upon skills that court records often attribute more readily to male relatives or workshop heads. By following her through portrait commissions and dynastic negotiations, the novel considers how women could participate in Tudor artistic production while leaving only scattered documentary traces. The court’s demand for images becomes part of diplomacy as well as personal representation.
Philippa Gregory
32 books
Elizabeth Fremantle
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C. W. Gortner
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Margaret George
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David Field
46 books