The French Poet and the German Painter meet in the English Court of Henry VIII

Nicholas Bourbon the Elder was born in France in 1503. He became a poet, humanist, and religious reformer. In 1534, he found himself in the circle of Anne Boleyn, the 2nd wife of King Henry VIII of England. This was due to a conflict that he had with the Catholic Church and sought sanctuary. 

 Nicholas Bourbon (Royal Collection Trust)

From his proximity to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Bourbon met Hans Holbein the Younger, whom he identified in a letter in 1536 to Thomas Soulement, Henry VIII’s French secretary, as 'the king's painter'. 

 

Bourbon wrote this of Holbein:

 Whilst with a hand of outstanding skill, the godlike mind of Hans was portraying my features on the panel, my jaw dropped and I uttered this song: ‘Hans painting me was greater than Apelles’. (History Today)