Hans Holbein German painter Country: Germany

1. Biography of Hans Holbein the Younger
2. Early Life and Education
3. Portraiture and Technique
4. Portraits of Royalty
5. Other Works

Biography of Hans Holbein the Younger

Hans Holbein the Younger was a German painter, considered one of the greatest portraitists in Western European art. His portraits are characterized by a realistic and noble interpretation of the subjects. He was an exceptionally versatile artist, creating compositions for religious subjects, frescoes, interior decorations, jewelry and stained glass designs, as well as book illustrations.

Early Life and Education

Holbein was born in Augsburg, Germany, as the son of Hans Holbein the Elder, a renowned artist and master of altarpiece painting. After training in his father's workshop, in 1514 he moved to Basel, which was then the largest center of art and humanistic scholarship. Soon, Holbein gained patrons among prominent citizens, including the humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam. During his travels to Italy in 1518 and Southern France in 1524, Holbein expanded his artistic knowledge. Two years later, he went to England, recommended by Erasmus, and became acquainted with Thomas More. He returned to Basel in 1528, but settled permanently in London in 1530. In 1536, Holbein became the court painter of King Henry VIII. During his time in England, he created around 150 portraits. Holbein died of the plague in London in 1543.

Portraiture and Technique

Holbein was a portraitist with a purely analytical nature. Before working on a portrait, he would spend a short period of observation, trying to determine the most important characteristics of the model's character. Each time, he managed to provide a remarkably accurate and comprehensive representation of the sitter's personality.

This approach can be seen in his early portraits of Basel intellectuals. The Portrait of Boniface Amerbach (1519, Basel, Public Art Collection) depicts a friend and follower of Erasmus, a professor of law at the University of Basel. The spirit of noble restraint is also evident in the Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam (1523-1524, Paris, Louvre), where the famous scholar is portrayed sitting at a desk, immersed in contemplation. Holbein also painted several other portraits of Erasmus. In England, the artist was involved in the decoration of court festivities and received commissions from the church. The Portrait of Thomas More (1527, New York, Frick Collection) presents the renowned humanist dressed in luxurious chancellor attire, while his upright posture and facial features reflect the strength of his character. In some portraits, Holbein revealed the sitter's character not only through traditional means but also with the use of numerous expressive details scattered throughout the painting. The Portrait of George Gisze (1532, Berlin-Dahlem) beautifully captures the textures of various objects, providing additional insights into the personality of the sitter.

Holbein went even further in utilizing attributes to depict the model in his remarkable painting The Ambassadors (1533, London, National Gallery). Two richly dressed men are depicted in front of a cluttered table filled with objects that hint at their religious, intellectual, and artistic interests. The most striking element in the painting is a distorted shape in the foreground, which, when viewed from the left at a close distance, reveals itself to be a skull.

Portraits of Royalty

Holbein's portraits of members of the English royal family were conceived and executed to glorify the monarchs. In the depictions of Henry VIII (1536, Madrid, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection) and Queen Jane Seymour (1536, The Hague, Royal Cabinet of Paintings), the king and his third wife are presented more as splendid figures than as flesh-and-blood individuals. Every jewel and every detail of the fabric is rendered with astonishing clarity, and all the forms are flattened and reduced to decorative patterns. After Jane Seymour's death, Henry VIII sent Holbein abroad several times to paint portraits of his prospective future brides. One surviving portrait from this series is that of Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan (1538, London, National Gallery). The series also includes panel and miniature portraits of Anne of Cleves (both 1539, Louvre and London, Victoria and Albert Museum). These works combine a somewhat flattened, icon-like interpretation of the subject with human warmth, serenity, and tenderness. The Portrait of Henry VIII in Wedding Attire (1539-1540, Rome, National Gallery) appears almost like an icon.

Other Works

Among Holbein's other significant works is The Lais of Corinth (1526, Basel, Public Art Collection), where he captured the famous courtesan Magdalena Offenburg, drawing inspiration from classical literature. A deeply personal and intimate portrait of his wife and children was painted upon his return to Basel in 1528. The Madonna of Mayor Meyer (c. 1528, Darmstadt, Hessisches Landesmuseum) is an altarpiece portraying the Madonna and the Mayor of Basel with his family at her feet. Notable religious compositions include The Dead Christ (1521, Basel, Public Art Collection) and a series of five Passion of Christ compositions (1524, same location). The first of these, possibly part of a lost altarpiece, is striking with its depiction of Christ's stiffened and dried body. Between 1524 and 1526, Holbein created a series of Dance of Death drawings (published as woodcut engravings in Lyons in 1538), portraying Death striking representatives from different social classes.