Margaret Sarah Carpenter Pencil Portrait Of Philipp Melanchthon After Holbein Circa.1840

Margaret Sarah Carpenter 1793-1872. British School 19th.Century. Pencil portrait study after Hans Holbein the younger, Philipp Melancthon. Graphite on wove paper Circa.1840. Signed lower right and inscribed upper left. 18.3 by 22cms. Image. 29 by 32.5 cms. Overall in period rosewood veneer frame. Provenance: Ex Lowther Castle, Lonsdale Collection 1947.

Margaret Carpenter's husband William Hookham Carpenter served as the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. Margaret had direct, personal access to the museum's extensive historical archives. She frequently utilised this privilege to practice her draftsmanship by copying masterpieces from the collection, including the 16th-century portrait drawings of Hans Holbein. 

Philipp Melanchthon 1497-1560 German theologian, Lutheran reformer who played a major role in shaping Protestantism.