Hans Holbein (the Younger)

1497-1543. German painter.

The Ambassadors, NG, London, 1533

Anne of Cleves, Louvre, 1539

Born in Augsburg in 1497. Like his brother Ambrosius Holbein and father Hans Holbein the Older he worked as a painter and designer. In 1514 he moved to Basel.

He first went to England in 1526, where he got introduced to Sir Thomas More by Erasmus, who he had already met in Basel. During his first stay he painted his famous group portrait of the More family.

In 1528 Hans Holbein returned to Basel, but he did not stay long. Due to the reformation and the so-called Bildersturm in 1529 his working situation changed immensely. Religious paintings, which were at that time the most profitable for artists, were forbidden. So in 1532 Holbein went back to England. By this time his former patron Sir Thomas More was in disfavour. But Holbein soon met Thomas Cromwell who probably helped him to get royal patronage.

In 1636 he was working at the court of Henry VIII. In 1537 he painted a wall-painting at Whitehall Palace, which showed King Henry VIII together with his father Henry VII, his mother Elizabeth of York and his third wife Jane Seymour. Unfortunately the painting was destroyed during a fire in 1698.

After the death of Jane Seymour, Henry sent Holbein abroad to create portraits of suitable brides (Anne of Cleves, Louvre, Paris, 1539; Christina, Duchess of Milan, NG, London, 1538). Holbein also painted several other members of the court.

Sources

• Cannon, John, ed.Oxford Dictionary of British History.Oxford: OUP, 2001.
• Chilvers, Ian, ed.The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists.2nd ed.. Oxford: OUP, 1996.
• Kinney, Arthur F. and David W.Swain, ed. Tudor England. An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland, 2001.