Biography

Miniature painter, son of Gerard Horenbout. By 1531 he was a court painter at the English court of Henry VIII, and in 1534 this office was conferred on him for life. No surviving work can be attributed to him with certainty. This is partly because, during his long career as court painter, he was paid a large fixed annuity rather than a negotiable fee for individual commissions. It was Lucas Horenbout who introduced Hans Holbein the Younger to the art of painting portrait miniatures. Lucas has been plausibly credited with the earliest of all English portrait miniatures, probably pendants representing henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. On stylistic grounds, certain other miniatures, as well as book illuminations may be added to him.