Hans
Holbein was born in Augsburg, Germany
in 1497. Later the family moved to Basle in Switzerland. The son of
a painter, Holbein soon developed a reputation as a talented artist.
Like most artists of this period, Holbein mainly painted religious
subjects, specializing in painting altarpieces. However, in the 1520s,
Basle came under the influence of the teachings of Desiderius
Erasmus and Martin
Luther. Luther
did not approve of highly decorated churches and so Holbein found
it difficult to find work.
In 1526, Holbein moved
to England which at that time was still a Catholic country. Soon after
he arrived he was commissioned to paint a picture of Thomas
More and his family.
More was impressed with the painting and began telling his friends
about Holbein's amazing ability to accurately represent what people
really looked like.
Other wealthy people in
England commissioned Holbein to paint their portraits. These included
Thomas Cromwell, who was at this time
one of the king's advisers. When Henry VIII
saw this picture he asked Holbein to become one of the artists working
for the royal family. Holbein painted several portraits of Henry.
Other artists employed by the king made
copies of these portraits. Some of these copies
were displayed in England while others were sent to foreign monarchs.
In many cases it is the copies rather than the original paintings
that have survived.
One of Holbein's most important
tasks was to paint pictures on the the walls of Whitehall Palace.
Unfortunately, the
palace was destroyed by fire in 1698. Luckily, copies were made of
some of these paintings.
After the death of Jane
Seymour, Henry began to look for another wife. Holbein was sent
to Europe where he painted the portraits of five potential brides.
From these portraits. Henry picked the beautiful Christina, Duchess
of Milan. However, Christina eventually decided against the marriage.
She is reported to have said she was worried she might lose her head
if she failed to provide Henry with a son. Henry eventually married
another woman that Holbein painted, Anne of
Cleves.
As well as painting pictures
for Henry VIII, Holbein designed furniture,
banners and jewellery, and continued to work for Henry until his death
from the plague in 1543.
Christina, Duchess of Milan
(1538)
(1)
Thomas
More, letter to Desiderius
Erasmus (18 December, 1526)
Your painter... is a wonderful artist, but I fear he is not
likely to find England so fertile as he hoped; although I will do
what I can.
(2)
Letter of introduction from Desiderius
Erasmus to his friends in England
(29 August, 1526)
Here the
arts are freezing, so Holbein is on the way to England to pick up
some coins there.
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