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Catherine of Aragon 1485-1536

The daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, Catherine of Aragon is best known as the first wife of King Henry VIII, whose desire for a divorce led to the English Reformation. She was the mother of the future Queen Mary I.

Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England, with her pet monkey
This is a later 16th century copy of the Horenboult miniature painted, almost certainly, to hang in the home of a Catholic English family. The iconography of the painting has been changed to show the monkey choosing the cross on Catherine's dress above the money in her hand. The miniature is a portrait of a real woman and her pet; this image has evolved to impart a religious statement. Image credit: lisby1