Hans Holbein the Younger

In 1526, Holbein travelled to London. A letter of introduction from Erasmus to the statesman Thomas More proved critical to his establishment in England. Holbein portrayed More (1527, Frick Collection, New York), as well as a life-size portrait of More and his household (later destroyed but known through drawings and later copies), and members of the English court in both drawings and paintings. In 1528, Holbein returned to Basel, yet, the burgeoning Reformation had significantly reduced artistic opportunities.

Holbein returned to England in 1532. Many of his previous patrons were dead or embroiled in the political and religious strife around Henry VIII’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon. Nevertheless, Holbein sought new patrons and prospered, drawing and painting portraits of courtiers, merchants, and diplomats, and creating designs for metalwork and jewelry. By 1536 he had become Henry VIII’s ‘King’s painter’.

During this period Holbein painted 150 portraits, both life-size and miniature. His clientele ranged from German merchants working in London to the French ambassadors to the king’s court, Jean de Dintville and Georges de Selve (1533, National Gallery, London), portraits of the king himself (1536–37, the most splendid of which was destroyed by fire but is known through copious copies), his then-wife Jane Seymour (1536–37, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), and his treasured heir, Edward, Prince of Wales (ca. 1539, National Gallery of Art, Washington). Following Jane’s death in 1537, Henry sent Holbein around Europe to make portraits of potential brides, namely Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan (1538, National Gallery, London) and Anne of Cleves (ca. 1539, Musée du Louvre, Paris). Holbein’s portrait flattered Anne, for when she arrived in England in 1540 Henry deemed her a ‘fat Flanders mare’; the marriage was annulled within six months.

His tour de force is doubtless the double portrait of the of the French ambassadors, painted the year of Henry’s break with the Catholic church and marriage to Anne Boleyn, worrisome to the French king. The vast table the sitters flank displays a wide range of objects. Displayed together, these objects allude to the era’s religious and political tumult. Instruments used to measure time, altitude, and the position of the stars and other celestial bodies adorn one shelf. Such technical instruments were extremely valuable, denoting the men’s understanding of mathematics and science. Below is a lute, discarded face down on the floor with one of the strings broken. Under its neck rests a set of flutes; one is missing, suggesting a lack of harmony. A Lutheran hymn book is opened to two songs expressing Christian unity. The portrait’s most unusual element—a distorted, elongated object hovering between the men’s feet—is only visible if the painting is viewed from the bottom right corner, revealing itself to be a large skull, or memento mori, which must be understood as a warning against earthly matters. Equally hidden at the picture’s top left is a crucifix, perhaps a hopeful hint at Christian unity during this period of turmoil.