Woltmann, 342; Wornum, ii. 31; Holmes, ii. 27. Reproduced by Davies, p. 220; and elsewhere. The portraits of the two young sons of the Duke of Suffolk, Henry and Charles Brandon, are acknowledged on all sides to be among the very finest of Holbein’s miniatures. Dr. Woltmann, indeed, considered the one of the elder brother to be the best which ever came from his brush. It is, he says, “the most beautiful miniature painting by Holbein that is known to us, and exhibits more strikingly than any other his artistic style and his spirited and perfect mode of execution, true in spite of all its delicacy.”[494] This is certainly by no means too high praise, for both miniatures are delightful renderings of childhood, drawn with all Holbein’s keen perception, and faultless in their precision of line and delightfulness of colouring. The elder boy, Henry (Pl. 31 (1)),[495] aged five, is shown to the waist, full-face, leaning with his left arm on a table at his side, his head slightly bent in the same direction. He is wearing a black velvet dress with green under-sleeves, and a black hat with a white feather. His fair hair is cut straight across his forehead, and there is a rather sad look in his eyes. On the ledge of the table is inscribed, “ETATIS SVE 5 6 SEPDEM,” and below, on the table-leg, “ANNO” and the date, which has been variously read by different writers. The younger brother, Charles (Pl. 31 (2)),[496] aged three, is also seen to the waist and full-face. His dress is a bluish grey braided in red, and with black cuffs. His flat black cap has no feather; his hair, like his brother’s, is very fair, and his blue eyes look straight at the spectator. There is a strong likeness between the two. He holds in front of him a paper with the inscription “ANN 1541 ETATIS SVÆ 3 10 MARCI.” Both miniatures are painted on a playing card, 2 in. in diameter, and in each the background is the usual bright blue. Their pedigree in the royal collection can be traced back as far as Charles I, in whose catalogue they appear as: “Done by Hans Holbein. Given to the King by Sir H. Vane. No. 64. _Item._ Done upon the wrong light. Upon a round card, one of the Duke of Brandon’s children, being in a purple habit laced with red velvet lace, with both his hands before him. 2 inches.” “No. 65. _Item._ Another fellow piece of the same Duke of Brandon’s children, in a black cap and habit with green sleeves, leaning with his left arm upon the table, bending his breast towards his left shoulder, on the table written his age, and the year of our Lord, done upon the wrong light.” They appear again in James H’s catalogue, No. 646, as: “Two heads in one frame, in limning, being the sons of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. By Holbein.” Footnote 494: Woltmann, English translation, p. 371. Footnote 495: Woltmann, 268. Reproduced by Law, Pl. vii.; Knackfuss, fig. 124; Williamson, Pl. ii. fig. 5; Ganz, _Holbein_, p. 149 (2). Footnote 496: