Margaret Wyatt, Lady Lee by Hans Holbein the Younger - 1540 - 42.5 x 32.7 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art Margaret Wyatt, Lady Lee by Hans Holbein the Younger - 1540 - 42.5 x 32.7 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art

Margaret Wyatt, Lady Lee

oil, tempera on wood • 42.5 x 32.7 cm
  • Hans Holbein the Younger - c. 1497 - 1543 Hans Holbein the Younger 1540

Margaret Wyatt was a sister of Thomas Wyatt who was an accomplished Tudor poet and an ambassador of the court of Henry VIII of England. She was also a favourite of Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife. When the Queen was arrested on charges of adultery, treason, and incest, Lady Margaret was sent to attend her royal mistress in the Tower of London in May 1536. Margaret also attended Anne on the scaffold on May 19, and even received the last gift of a prayer book from her.