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Title
John Bettes, A Man in a Black Cap is the earliest picture in the Tate Britain collection in London #193588628
Description
The artistââ¬â¢s name is inscribed on the back, and the inscriptions on the front indicate that the work was painted ââ¬Ëin the year of our Lord 1545ââ¬â¢, and that the sitter was aged 26. Bettes is first recorded carrying out decorative work for Henry VIIIââ¬â¢s court in 1531ââ¬â3, and he may have worked with Hans Holbein the Younger, the most famous Tudor painter. Originally this portrait was larger, and would have had a blue background similar to the colour often used by Holbein. Due to long exposure to light, the pigment smalt has changed to brown.
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