English School, 16th Century

The sitter was the brother of Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour, the uncle of Edward VI, second husband of Henry VIII's last wife Catherine Parr, and brother of The Lord Protector Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset.

Following Anne Boleyn's execution, Henry VIII married her lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour, which transformed the careers of her two brothers. Thomas, the younger, was almost immediately entrusted with a number of diplomatic missions to the courts of Francis I of France, Ferdinand of Bohemia and Charles V. On his return in 1542 he was made Marshal of the English army in The Netherlands at the outbreak of war with France, and as a result of his success was made Master General of the Ordinance and Warden of the Cinque Ports. Following Henry's death in 1547 his status was further enhanced as he became a member of the Regency Council, set up to rule England on behalf of his ten year old nephew, and was ennobled as Lord Seymour of Sudeley (the estate he was granted in Gloucestershire) and made Lord High Admiral. He also marries the King's widow and was made a Knight of the Garter. This is the time when the prototype of this image was made which may well be the miniature in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich,¹ (or a lost original painting by Scrots).² Other versions are known, including that in the National Portrait Gallery (NPG4571).³

¹ https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/42085.html

² https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/14494.html

³ https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw05710/Thomas-Seymour-Baron-Seymour?LinkID=mp04043&role=sit&rNo=0