Prince Arthur, seen here holding a bunch of violets (traditionally symbolising faithfulness and love), was the eldest son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. In 1501, he married Catherine of Aragon. After he died in 1502, she married his brother, the future Henry VIII.

This miniature is a copy made by George Perfect Harding (c. 1780-1853) in about 1815 of a miniature in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch. Harding exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists between 1802 and 1840. He worked mainly in London and in country houses, where he made watercolour copies of oil portraits, many painted on a small scale.

The miniature is inscribed A CORDE COR TRAHO HENRICUS VII D. G. ANGLIAE &c. REX