This portrait of Anne of Demark is of a type which can be associated with the Serjeant Painter John de Critz. Portraits of Anne of this type were conceived to hang as pendants to ones of her husband James I, such as BHC2796 (although these two portraits are not a pair). Anne is shown with her hair piled high, almost to a point, a style she kept until about 1609. An identical portrait at Blickling Hall, Norfolk (National Trust), has had the hair and ruff repainted to update in the newer style.

Like her brother, Christian IV of Denmark, Anne was enthusiastic about architecture and the arts. Inigo Jones was appointed ‘Surveyor of the Kings Works’ in 1615 and she commissioned him to build the Queen’s House for her in 1616.