A rare portrait of Katherine Parr is about to be sold in one of the most anticipated auctions of the year.

Sotheby’s will sell the work, believed to be the only contemporary rendering of the queen, online on July 5th 2023.

The painting is thought to be the work of Master John, an artist recorded in the Privy Purse expenses of the time.

Katherine Parr was Queen of England between 1543 and 1547. She was the last of Henry VIII’s six wives and highly esteemed by the King who even appointed her regent at one point, leaving her to rule in his place as he went on campaign in France.

The portrait is expected to sell for between £600, 000 and £800,000 and has attracted interest from around the world.

The painting has, in the past, been wrongly identified as showing Katherine’s stepdaughter, Mary I of England, or Lady Jane Grey, who also briefly ruled England and who was greatly influenced by Katherine.

However, the crown topped jewel on the woman’s chest in the painting has allowed a definitive identification. It is a portrait of Katherine, Queen of England.

The auction starts at 7pm UK time on July 5th 2023.