Olga's Gallery

Hans Holbein at Artprice. To look at auction records, find Holbein's works in upcoming auctions, check price levels and indexes for his works, read his biography and view his signature, access the Artprice database.             Hans Holbein the Younger, son of the painter Hans Holbein the Elder, was both in education and career, a cosmopolitan. At the early age of 16, after training by his father, he went travelling with his brother Ambrosius. He is first mentioned in 1515 in Basel, where he entered the workshop of Hans Herbster. His first public commissions were carried out in Lucerne in 1517. In 1519, Holbein became a member of the painters’ guild in Basel, and in 1520 received a citizenship of Basel. His artistic life may be divided into 4 periods. He worked in Basel, Lucerne, and Zurich from 1515 to 1526. From 1526 to 1528 he was in London, but returned to Basel for the next four years. From 1532 he was again in London and died there of the plague in 1543.
            Among works executed during his first period at Basel he was largely employed by publishers to make designs of woodcuts, including illustrations of Luther's Old and New Testaments (1522-1523). His most important woodcuts The Dance of Death and the Old Testament Cuts, were not issued till 1538.
            Religious paintings form a significant part of the work Holbein produced in Basel. From modest, private commissions in the period 1519-20 (e.g. the Man of Sorrows), through The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb (1521), to a culmination both in emotion and design in The Passion of Christ (c. 1524).
            From 1528, he concentrated solely on portrait painting. In London he executed portraits of the German merchants of the Hanseatic League, e,g. Portrait of Georg Gisze of Danzig (1532), Portrait of Derich Born (1533), and soon came to the notice of Henry VIII and members of his court. His observation of detail, psychological penetration of his sitters and superb handling of color made him the greatest portrait painter of German art.
 

Jacob Meyer, businessman and Burgomaster of Basel, he was elected to the office on June 24, 1516. In 1521, he was impeached for a larger bribe from the French than was permitted, imprisoned when he protested at this treatment and barred from office thereafter. He remained a Catholic after the city’s secession to the reformed religion and led the Catholic party in the city. Dorothea Kannengiesser was the second wife of Jacob Meyer, their double portrait, was probably commissioned to celebrate Meyer’s election as Burgomaster.
See:  Hans Holbein. Portrait of Jakob Meyer. Portrait of Dorothea Kannengiesser.
also Hans Holbein. Meyer Madonna., on which all the family of Meyer is depicted.

The Meyer or Darmstadt Madonna is the last, most famous and most effective of Holbein’s great religious works. This is a Schulzmantelbild (a Virgin of Pity painting), in which the donor, Jacob Meyer, appeals to divine protection for himself and his family. On the right are his wives – enwrapped profile of his first, Magdalena Baer (who died in 1511) and Dorothea Kannengiesser. Before them kneels Anna, the only surviving child. A friend of Holbein’s, one Magdalena Offenburg, posed for the Madonna. She also posed for the Lais. The commission for the painting was the result of the death of  Meyer’s two sons during Holbein’s first English absence, and Meyer decided to include all members of his family, living and dead.
See: Hans Holbein. Meyer Madonna.

Bonifacius Amerbach, son of the Basle publisher Johanes Amerbach (1430-1513), he was a lawyer and Professor of Law at the university of Basle. Bonifacius was a close friend of Erasmus of Rotterdam, the later made him his only heir, leaving him books, gold and several works by Hans Holbein the Yonger. The picture bears Amerbach’s own words of praise for the artist’s truthfulness to nature.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach.

The Artist’s Family. Hans married the widow of a soldier Elsbeth Bingenstok in 1519. They had 4 children. On the picture Elsbeth is with Philip (born 1521) and Catarina (born in 1526 when her father left for England). Philip Holbein studied later in Paris and became a gold- and silversmith in the Augsburg court of Emperor Maximilian. Elsbeth, who was separated from her husband for years at a time, brought up their children alone. She eventually had to sell the painting to make ends meet.
See: Hans Holbein. The Artist's Family.

Lais Corinthiaca was said to have been the mistress of the ancient Greek artist Apelles, her personage signifies Mercenary Love. A friend of Holbein’s, one Magdalena Offenburg, a woman of negotiable virtue, sat for the picture.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Lais Corinthiaca.

The Ambassadors. Jean de Dinteville, on the left, was in England on a mission for Francis I on the subject of Henry’s quarrel with the papacy over his marriage to Anne Boleyn in 1533. De Selve (later Bishop of Lavaur) probably gave his friend diplomatic and moral support.
See: Hans Holbein. The Ambassadors.

St. Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) English humanist, statesman and scholar. He was educated at Oxford. During the last years of Henry VII he became under-sheriff of London and a member of Parliament. Under Henry VIII he took important offices, the highest of which was Lord Chancellor, to which he was appointed against his own wish. For all his saintly reputation More was ferocious enough to condemn heretics to be burnt. In 1532, he resigned the chancelloship. In 1534, after Henry VIII was declared Head of the English Church, More refused to recognize any head of the church other than the pope and was accused of high treason. He was imprisoned and then, in a year, beheaded. He was canonized in 1935.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Sir Thomas More.

Sir Henry Guildford (1489-1532), was a great favorite of Henry VIII, ending his career at court as Comptroller of the Royal Household, whose baton of office he holds. He also wears the Order of the Garter, awarded him in 1526. He was a strong proponent of religious reform.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Sir Henry Guildford.

Charles de Solier, Sire de Morette was a French diplomat, who replaced Jean de Dinteville as the envoy in England. De Solier’s stay in England was brief; the break with the Church of Rome was by this time an accomplished event.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Charles de Solier, Sire de Morette.

Robert Cheseman (1485-1547) was an influential figure in Middlesex, where he was responsible for marshalling levies.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Robert Cheseman.

Nicholas Kratzer (c. 1497- c.1550) was a native of Munich, who came to England in 1516 and was employed by both Thomas More and Cardinal Wolsey (whose downfall occurred a year after the portrait was painted). Kratzer remained in England until his death. He was a friend of Holbein.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Nicholas Kratzer.

Sir Richard Southwell (? - c. 1564) was one of the most calculating and treacherous members of Henry VIII's court. He became a creature of Thomas Cromwell and was instrumental in aiding Richard Rich in his attempts to force the imprisoned Sir Thomas More to incriminate himself in 1532. Southwell also made accusations against a childhood friend, the Earl of Surrey, that led to the latter’s execution. Cromwell employed him as a general factotum during the dissolution of the monasteries between 1536 and 1539. He was knighted (after Cromwell’s downfall) in 1542. Southwell later renounced Protestantism, and thus found favor under Mary I (1553-8), but as a result he was shunned in Elizabeth’s reign.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Sir Richard Southwell. Portrait of Sir Richard Southwell.

Sir Thomas Elyot was a member of Sir Thomas More’s circle and praised him in his great treatise on education the Governor, (1531). After More’s execution, however, he reneged, asking Cromwell to forget the erstwhile friendship. The Governor experienced influence up to and throughout Elisabeth’s I reign. The book is thought to have been instrumental in determining the reformers to set up a tier of academies – the King Edward VI grammar schools – in the early 1550s.

Henry VIII (1491-1547), second son of Henry VII, King of England from 1509. Outstanding political and military figure, he was also remembered in history for his multiple and unsuccessful marriages. In 1509, he married his brother’s widow, Catherine of Aragon. In 1533, Anne Boleyn became his second wife. In 1536, the Queen Catherine died and Anne Boleyn was accused of infidelity and executed. The day after her execution Henry married Jane Seymore.
Jane Seymore, the eldest daughter of Sir John Seymour, was lady-in-waiting, first to Catherine of Aragon, then to Anne Boleyn. 20 May, 1536, only one day after Anne’s execution, she became Henry’s 3rd wife.  She died after giving birth to her husband’s desperately hoped-for male heir, later Edward VI (ruled in 1547-53).
Anne of Cleves (1515-1557) German princess, daughter of John, Duke of Cleves, a noted champion of Protestantism in Germany, was chosen as his forth wife, first of all for political reasons. But there was also one more reason and this is where Holbein lost the King’s favor. Holbein was sent as a painter-ambassador to execute the portrait of Anne. It was a difficult task, in fact, he found himself between a rock and a hard place. Henry VIII liked the portrait, but when his bride arrived to the marriage ceremony in 1540 he found her more like a ‘fat Flanders mare’. This cost Holbein dearly in prestige. The marriage was annuled by parliament six months later. Anne of Cleves obtained a handsome settlement from Henry and lived in quiet comfort in England until 1555.
Henry’s two subsequent wives were English.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Henry VIII. Portrait of Jane Seymour. Portrait of Anne of Cleves. Portrait of Henry VIII.

Edward VI (1537-1553) king of England and Ireland from 1547, son of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. Since Edward was only ten years old at the time of the coronation, the government was first entrusted to a lord protector, the king's uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who was executed in 1552 and replaced by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland. The king's health, never robust, deteriorated in 1553 and Northumberland made efforts to induce the dying boy to alter the succession in favour of his own daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Edward, Prince of Wales. Portrait of Edward, Prince of Wales, with Monkey.

Design for a Pendant. It is thought the design may have been commissioned as one of many pieces Holbein provided for Anne Boleyn in peak of her success from 1533 to 1536.
See: Hans Holbein. Design for Pendant.

Simon George of Quocote was a minor court figure at the court of Henry VIII.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Simon George of Quocote.

Christina (Kristina) of Denmark. After Jane Seymore’s death Henry VIII was looking for the next wife. Holbein was sent to Brussels to execute the portrait of Christina, this work, which was accomplished within only three hours, is the result. The portrait impressed officials and Henry VIII himself. But Christina’s common sense sabotaged Henry’s hopes for marriage: ‘if I had two heads, one would be at the service of the King of England.’ In this way she expressed her disapproval of the beheading of his previous wife, Anne Boleyn.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Christina of Denmark.

Henry and Charles Brandon, sons of Charles Brandon (1484-1545), Duke of Suffolk, and Lady Mary, sister of Henry VIII, were schoolfellows of Prince Edward. The brothers died of the notorious ‘sweating sickness’ within an hour of each other in 1551.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Henry Brandon. Portrait of Charles Brandon.

Sir Brian Tuke was Governor of the King’s Post, secretary and treasurer of the royal household. Sir Brian was 57 when this portrait was executed.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of Sir Brian Tuke.

William Warham (c.1450- 1532) English religious and political figure. He took orders, but practiced law and made his career under Henry VII; master of Rolls (1494), Lord Chancellor (1501), Bishop of London (1503) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1503) In 1515 he had to resign the great seal to Wolsey.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of William Warham.

Sir Thomas Godsalve, born in Norwich, was a notary and judge, his son John later became a secretary to the Chancellor, then was the head of the Royal Mint.
See: Hans Holbein. Double Portrat of Sir Thomas Godsalve and his Son John.

John Chambers was a personal physician to Henry VIII. In 1543 he was 88.
See: Hans Holbein. Portrait of John Chambers.

Bibliography:

Painting of Europe. XIII-XX centuries. Encyclopedic Dictionary. Moscow. Iskusstvo. 1999.
Holbein. by A. Nemilov. Moscow-Leningrad. 1962.
Holbein and Henry VIII. by R. Strong. London. 1967.
Holbein and England by Susan Foister. Paul Mellon Center BA, 2005.
Five Centuries of British Painting: From Holbein to Hodgkin by Andrew Wilton. Thames & Hudson, 2002.
Hans Holbein the Younger: Painter at the Court of Henry VIII by Stephanie Buck, Jochen Sander. Thames & Hudson, 2004.
Hans Holbein: Paintings, Prints, and Reception by Mark Roskill, John Oliver Hand. NGW-Stud Hist Art, 2001.
Holbein`s "Ambassadors" : Making and Meaning by Susan Foister, Ashok Roy, Martin Wyld. National Gallery London, 1998.
Henry VIII Revealed: Holbein's Portrait and Its Legacy by Xanthe Brooke, David Crombie. Paul Holberton Publishing, 2003.