According to Dr. Woltmann, the extra fee of £13, 6_s._ 8_d._ paid to Holbein for “the preparation of such things as he is appointed to carry with him,” was, “without doubt a portrait of the King, perhaps a miniature in a costly frame, which he had to paint and to present to the Princess as a gift from his monarch.”[376] This explanation, however, is not at all likely to be the correct one. As already pointed out, Henry never sent portraits of himself to the lady he was preparing to honour with his hand until he had first of all seen what she herself was like. He was too cautious a lover to commit himself so far. In all these transactions he was the one who was to be sought, and the first offer must come from the lady’s side. The simplest explanation is that the money was for the provision of the necessary painting materials, and the cost of their carriage. The sum was, no doubt, a large one if for such a purpose alone, but Holbein was then high in the King’s favour, and well paid for all that he did, while his absence from England on the royal business put an end for the time to his general practice, and this might have been considered in fixing the amount of his allowance. Footnote 376: Woltmann, i. p. 463. The travellers reached the castle of Düren, where the ladies were living, early in August, and Holbein at once set to work. He had finished portraits of both Anne and her sister Amelia before the 11th of the month, as we learn from a letter of that date from Dr. Wootton to Henry VIII. In the course of it he says: “Your Grace’s servant Hanze Albein hathe taken th’effigies of my ladye Anne and the ladye Amelye and hath expressyd theyr imaiges verye lyvelye.”[377] Footnote 377: _C.L.P._, vol. xiv. pt. ii. 33. It seems probable that in this instance Holbein did more than make mere studies in crayons such as he had done in the case of the Duchess of Milan and the French ladies; and the fact that the portrait of Anne of Cleves, now in the Louvre, is on parchment fastened down on a wood panel affords some proof of this. The portrait would be painted on the parchment directly from the sitter, and afterwards mounted and the finishing touches given to it. Owing to the haste required, and the safer conveyance of the portrait, the latter process was probably not carried out until the artist was back in London. [Sidenote: GOSSIP ABOUT THE KING’S MARRIAGE]