Susanna(h) Hornebolt or Horenbout (1503–c.1554) was the first known female artist in England
HistoryofWomen.org (Helena Wojtczak). Accessed 2 December 2013. and the Tudor dynasty. The daughter of Flemish artist Gerard Hornebolt and sister of

Lucas Horenbout Lucas Horenbout, often called Hornebolte in England ( 1490/1495–1544), was a Flemish people, Flemish artist who moved to England in the mid-1520s and worked there as "King's Painter" and court miniaturist to Henry VIII of England, King Hen ...

, Susannah learned to paint with her father. She gained recognition in Europe in 1521 when

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

bought her illumination, ''The Savior.'' She came to England, as did Lucas, her father, and mother, Margaret Svanders Hornebolt. (The family name was anglicised to Hornebolt in 1534). She was a gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber for

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...

Anne of Cleves Anne of Cleves (german: Anna von Kleve; 1515 – 16 July 1557) was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. Not much is known about Anne before 1527, when she became betrothed to Francis, Duke of ...

Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...

and perhaps Queen Mary. She was reputedly an artist for

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

and his court. Hornebolt married John Parker and after his death married John Gilman. Her work has been admired by contemporary artists Albrecht Dürer, Guicciardini and

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

Biography

Early life and art in Ghent

Hornebolt was an illuminator, and daughter of Gerard Hornebolt and Margaret Svanders, who was the daughter of Derick Svanders and widow of Jan van Heerweghe. Susanna Horenbolt was related to

.James Thorne.
Handbook to the Environs of London: Alphabetically Arranged, Containing an Account of Every Town and Village, and of All Places of Interest, Within a Circle of Twenty Miles Round London
'. John Murray; 1876. p. 220. She started working for her father starting in 1520, and by 1521 she was known as a miniature painter and illuminator on the European continent.Kathy Lynn Emerson
''Wives and Daughters: The Women of Sixteenth Century England''
Troy, NY: Whitston, 1984. p. 113. It was during that year that

bought an illumination that she had made of ''The Saviour'' when she was in Antwerp with her father. Guicciardini and

"extol her excellence" as an illuminator. Guiccidardini wrote in 1567 that her "excellence in painting, particularly in the art of miniatures and illumination, was 'beyond believing'." In 1568 Vasari wrote that "she was one of a handful of Flemish women who had distinguished themselves by the excellence of their art." The Hornebolt family, associated with the

Ghent-Bruges school The Ghent-Bruges School is a manner or movement of manuscript illumination from about 1475 to about 1550 that developed in southern Netherlands, now Belgium. The term was first used in 1891 by Joseph Destree, author of ''Recherches sur les elumin ...

of manuscript illumination, was brought to England by

to create portrait miniatures like the religious illuminations to "represent God's approval of the Tudors as England's ruling family."Susan Frye.
Pens and Needles: Women's Textualities in Early Modern England
'. University of Pennsylvania Press; 29 November 2011. . p. 78–79.

Jane Seymour's household

She then came to England with her parents, Gerard and Margaret Hornebolt, in 1522 and was a gentlewoman attendant to

and an artist for Henry VIII's court. Jane Seymour died in 1537.''A Who's Who of Tudor Women''.
Kate Emerson Historicals. Retrieved January 29, 2014.

Marriage to Parker

Around 1525 or 1526 she was married to John Parker (c. 1493/4-September 1537), who was for

a Keeper of the Palace of Westminster, Yeoman of the King's Crossbows, and later Yeoman of the King's Robes. He had houses at

King's Langley Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The village ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Henry VIII gave the "gentlewoman of the court" and her husband a gilt cup with cover and gilt spoons for the 1532 and 1533 New Years. In 1534 miniature portraits were made of them by

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Jüngere; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered o ...

, which may be titled ''A Court Official of King Henry VIII and his wife'' and held in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

. They had no children. Parker died in 1537. With the loss of both Jane Seymour and her husband, she lost her means of support. and by 1538 had "serious financial difficulties."

Marriage to Gilman and Queen's privy chamber

She married widower John Gilman or Gylmyn (c.1503-1558) on September 22, 1539 in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

at St. Margaret's Church. He had a daughter, was a vintner's company freeman, and was, or was to become, Serjeant of the King's Woodyard. She was the second of Gilman's three wives and gentlewoman attendant to

.Anita Hewerdine.
The Yeomen of the Guard and the Early Tudors: The Formation of a Royal Bodyguard
'. I.B.Tauris; 15 June 2012. . p. 184. Two weeks after her marriage to Gilman, she went to Cleves to escort Anne to England for her marriage on 6 January 1540 to Henry VIII. The king provided £40 so that Hornebolt could have a properly appointed wardrobe. She was poor at that time and did not have the proper clothes for the stately visit. The trip was to Cleves was led by

Nicholas Wotton Nicholas Wotton (c. 1497 – 26 January 1567) was an English diplomat, cleric and courtier. Life He was a son of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton Malherbe, Kent, and a descendant of Sir Nicholas Wotton, Lord Mayor of London in 1415 and 1430, who ...

, dean of Canterbury, and included her husband, John Gilman. Hornebolt became a member of Queen Anne's privy chamber and was responsible for four servants.Retha M. Warnicke.
The Marrying of Anne of Cleves: Royal Protocol in Early Modern England
'. Cambridge University Press; 13 April 2000. . p. 111, 116, 124. The queen considered her the "first of her gentlewomen." The Gilmans lived in London, first in St. Bide's parish and then

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. They had two sons and two or more daughters. About 1540 she and her husband had their first child, a son named Henry Gilman (1540-1593); Henry VIII was the boy's godfather. Henry of Twicknam married Isabell West, daughter of Thomas West. Hornebolt also had a daughter named Anne (born about 1541 to 1542). Hornebolt served in the household of

until Edward VI's reign, which began in 1547. In June of that year Hornebolt and her husband brought a case to the

Court of Requests The Court of Requests was a minor equity court in England and Wales. It was instituted by King Richard III in his 1484 parliament. It first became a formal tribunal with some Privy Council elements under Henry VII, hearing cases from the poor an ...

against John Parker's heirs. She may have served under Queen Mary, from who she is noted to have received 2 yards of black satin. She died in 1545 or in the 1550s, but by 1554 when Gilman married for the third time.

Artist in England

According to James Lees-Milne, Hornebolt worked for the king as a "clever illuminator" and had competition from another woman, the daughter of manuscript illuminator

Simon Bening Simon Bening (c. 1483 – 1561) was a Flemish miniaturist, generally regarded as the last major artist of the Netherlandish tradition. Bening, born either in Ghent or Antwerp, was probably trained by his father, illuminator Alexander Bening, i ...

Levina Teerlinc Levina Teerlinc (1510s – 23 June 1576) was a Flemish Renaissance miniaturist who served as a painter to the English court of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. She was the most important miniaturist at the English court between ...

of Bruges, who was 10 or more years younger than Hornebolt. J.D. Mackie, author of ''The Earlier Tudors, 1485-1558'' submits that portraits and miniatures of the king were likely made by Gerard, Lucas, and Susannah. "This Susanna Hornbaud is stated to have practised painting in miniature in England and with greatest success, being much patronised by Henry the Eighth and all the Court," said The Society of Antiquaries of London.Society of Antiquaries of London.
Archaeologia, or, Miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity
'. The Society; 1863. p. 29. She was described by authors Lorne Campbell and Susan Foister as "an excellent painter and illuminator, who had found the highest favour at the court of Henry VIII in England. Catherine Parr was said to have employed three women miniature painters and these were Susannah Hornebolt, Levina Teerlinc and

Margaret Holsewyther Margaret Holsewyther (born c. 1504 - died after 1560) was an Kingdom of England, English miniaturist employed by Tudor monarchs. Her husbands were paid for her work making the provenance of her work difficult to ascertain. She was working over the ...

In historical fiction

Susanna Horenbout and John Parker are the protagonists in a series of historical fiction novels by Michelle Diener, first published in 2011. Horenbout is portrayed as a "one part skilled painter and two parts damsel in distress", later developing into "a more active heroine".