A Courtly Couple by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1532-6. Pen and ink over chalk paper; 3.4 x 4.5cm. Kunstmuseum Basel, Kupferstichkabinett. This drawing was probably intended for a small ornament, possibly to adorn a jewel. The scene depicts a man offering a heart to a woman. As Susan Foister observes ‘the heart is used in French courtly manuscripts of the period to symbolise friendship, but the need for such imagery may also be a reflection of the action of lovers at the Tudor court who gave each other gifts’ [Foister, Holbein in England (London: Tate Publishing, 2006), p. 60.] It is possible that the ‘Harte of golde enameled with the kinges picture in it’ was the bracelet that Henry VIII gave to his second wife, Anne Boleyn, to symbolise their love.
