Portrait of William Butts
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Hans Holbein the Younger painted William Butts as one of a pair of portraits developed from a life-size group composition, Henry VIII and the Barber-Surgeons, commissioned to mark the 1540 unification of the Company of Barbers and the Guild of Surgeons[1]. Butts, physician to Henry VIII, appears in that group beside a fellow royal doctor, Dr John Chambers, positioned apart from the main body of company members because neither man actually belonged to the barbers' or surgeons' guild[1]. Individual portraits of both physicians, including this one, were developed from the same images made for the larger picture[1]. Holbein also painted a companion portrait of Butts's wife, Margaret, Lady Butts, held in the same Boston museum as this canvas, so the pair can still be seen close together[1]. Lady Butts's portrait carries an inscription giving her age as fifty-seven, and the preparatory drawing for it survives, showing a rough sketch of a flower that became an enamelled brooch in the finished painting[1]. The Barber-Surgeons group portrait itself survives today in the hall of the Worshipful Company of Barbers in London, though it suffered heat damage in the Great Fire of 1666 and has been restored more than once since[1].
Where it is held
Held at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, United States.
Developed from the likeness taken for the Barber-Surgeons group portrait, and paired with a companion portrait of Margaret, Lady Butts. Both are now held at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston[1][2].
A physician shown apart from the guild
Henry VIII and the Barber-Surgeons was commissioned to commemorate the unification of the Company of Barbers and the Guild of Surgeons by Act of Parliament in 1540, and was begun around 1541[1]. The composition, dominated by an oversized seated King Henry, follows the pattern used for illuminated parliamentary charters, presenting the king almost as a living version of the image on his own Great Seal[1]. To the king's left stand the royal physicians Dr Butts and Dr Chambers. Neither man was a member of the newly united company, so Holbein placed them apart from the main body of barbers and surgeons gathered before the throne[1].
From group study to individual panel
The individual portraits of both physicians, including this one of Butts, were developed from the same likenesses Holbein had already taken for the group composition rather than from fresh sittings[1]. The process can be traced in the companion portrait of Dr Chambers: the underdrawing beneath the paint shows him glancing upward exactly as he does in the group scene, a pose later adjusted for the individual panel, where his hands, gripping a pair of gloves, were also added at this stage[1]. It is reasonable to assume a similar working method lay behind Butts's own portrait, made, like Chambers's, from a shared source rather than an independent session with the sitter.
Margaret, Lady Butts
Holbein paired the portrait of William Butts with one of his wife, Margaret Bacon, Lady Butts, and both paintings are now held together at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston[1][2]. A preparatory chalk drawing for Lady Butts's portrait survives, inscribed with her name and unsparing in its record of her wrinkles, though these were softened slightly in the finished panel[1]. The inscription on the painting gives her age as fifty-seven. A rough sketch of a flower in the drawing was developed, in the painted portrait, into what appears to be an enamelled flower brooch[1]. William Butts belonged to the same circle at court, including Holbein himself, to which the poet Nicolas Bourbon sent his greetings in verse[1].
Common questions
Who was William Butts?
Sir William Butts (c.1485 to 1545) was a physician to Henry VIII. He appears in Holbein's large group portrait Henry VIII and the Barber-Surgeons, and this individual painting of him was developed from the same likeness used in that composition[1].
Why are Butts and Chambers shown apart from the other men in the Barber-Surgeons painting?
Because neither physician was a member of the Company of Barbers or the Guild of Surgeons, whose 1540 unification the painting commemorates. Holbein placed them separately from the guild members gathered before the king[1].
What happened to the large Barber-Surgeons group portrait?
It needed repair as early as 1601, was restored in 1634, suffered heat damage in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and was restored again in the eighteenth century. It survives today in the hall of the Worshipful Company of Barbers in London[1].
Sources
Editorial draws on the following references, verified against the museum and public-domain image record for this work.
- [1] book Foister, Susan, 1954-, Holbein in England Used for: this artwork.
- [2] book Beckett, Wendy, The story of painting Used for: this artwork.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-09-03. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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