Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497–1543) was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century.[1] He also made a significant contribution to the history of book design, and produced religious art, satire, and Reformation propaganda.
Born in Augsburg, Holbein worked mainly in Basel as a young artist, painting murals and religious works and drawing designs for stained glass and printed books. He produced the occasional portrait, and made his international mark with portraits of the famous humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam. When the Reformation reached Basel, Holbein produced works for reformist clients while continuing to serve traditional religious patrons. His late-Gothic style was influenced by artistic trends in Italy, France and the Netherlands, as well as by Renaissance humanism, resulting in a combined aesthetic that was uniquely his own.
Holbein travelled to England in 1526 in search of work, armed with a recommendation from Erasmus. He was welcomed into the humanist circle of Thomas More, where he soon built a high reputation. After returning to Basel for four years, in 1532 he resumed his career in England, where he worked for Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell, and was appointed King's Painter to Henry VIII. In this role, he produced designs for jewellery, plates, and other precious objects, as well as for festive decorations. His portraits of the king and his family and courtiers provide a vivid record of a brilliant court, during a momentous period when Henry was assuming power as the Supreme Head of the English church.
Work | Description | Date | Medium | Size | Location | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Head of a Female Saint, attributed to Holbein[2] | c. 1515–16 | Oil and tempera on spruce wood | 23.5 × 21.5 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Head of a Male Saint, attributed to Holbein | c. 1515–16 | Oil and tempera on spruce wood | 23.5 × 21.5 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Portrait of Jakob Meyer zum Hasen[3] | 1516 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 38.5 × 31 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Portrait of Dorothea Meyer, wife of Jakob Meyer zum Hasen[4] | 1516 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 38.5 × 31 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Signboard for the Schoolmaster Oswald Myconius (with Ambrosius Holbein)[5] | 1516 | Oil and tempera on pine panel | 55.5 × 65.5 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Adam and Eve[6] | 1517 | Oil and tempera on paper mounted on pine | 30.2 × 35.7 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Portrait of Benedikt von Hertenstein[7] | 1517 | Oil and tempera on paper mounted on wood | 52.4 × 38.1 cm | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | ||
Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach[8] | 1519 | Oil and tempera on pine | 28.5 × 27.4 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Oberried Altarpiece, The Adoration of the Magi, left panel[9] | c 1520 | Oil and tempera on pine | 230 × 109 cm | University Chapel of the Cathedral, Freiburg im Breisgau | ||
Oberried Altarpiece, The Birth of Christ, right panel | c 1520 | Oil and tempera on pine | 230 × 109 cm | University Chapel of the Cathedral, Freiburg im Breisgau | ||
The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb[10] | 1521–22 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 30.6 × 200 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
The Solothurn Madonna[11] | 1522 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 140.5 × 102 cm | Kunstmuseum Solothurn | ||
Portrait of Johannes Froben | c 1522–23 | Oil on panel | 48.8 × 32.4 cm | Royal Collection | ||
Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam writing[12] | 1523 | Oil and tempera on paper mounted on pine | 36.8 × 30.5 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam writing[13] | 1523 | Oil and tempera on wood | 43 × 33 cm | Louvre, Paris | ||
Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam[14] | 1523 | Oil and tempera on wood | 76 × 51 cm | National Gallery, London, on loan from Longford Castle | ||
Printer's Device of Johannes Froben[15] | c 1523 | Tempera on canvas, heightened with gold | 44 × 31 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Allegory of the Old and New Law[16] | Unknown date between 1524 and 1535 | Oil and tempera on oak | 49 × 60 cm | National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh | ||
The Passion altarpiece, the two left panels[17] | c. 1524–25 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 136 × 31 cm and 149.5 × 31 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
The Passion altarpiece, the two right panels[18] | 1524–25 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 149.5 × 31 cm and 136 × 31 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
The Last Supper[19] | c 1524–25 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 115.5 × 97.3 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Lais of Corinth[20] | 1526 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 34.6 × 26.8 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Portrait of a Man with a Lute[21] | c. 1526–27 | Oil and tempera on oak | 43.5 × 43.5 cm | Berlin State Museums | ||
The Darmstadt Madonna (the Madonna of Jakob Meyer zum Hasen)[22] | 1526 and 1528–30 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 146.5 × 102 cm | Johanniterkirche, Schwäbisch Hall | ||
Noli me Tangere[23] | Unknown date, perhaps 1526 to 1528 | Oil and tempera on oak | 76.8 × 94.9 cm | Royal Collection | ||
Portrait of Sir Thomas More[24] | 1527 | Oil and tempera on oak | 74.2 × 59 cm | Frick Collection, New York | ||
Portrait of William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury[25] | 1527 | Oil and tempera on oak | 82 × 67 cm | Louvre, Paris | ||
Portrait of Sir Henry Guildford[26] | 1527 | Oil and tempera on oak | 82.6 × 66.4 cm | Royal Collection, Windsor Castle | ||
Portrait of Mary, Lady Guildford[27] | 1527 | Oil and tempera on oak | 87 × 70.5 cm | Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri | ||
Portrait of a Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling[28] | c. 1527–28 | Oil and tempera on oak | 54 × 38.7 cm | National Gallery, London | ||
Portrait of Thomas Godsalve and his son John[29] | 1528 | Oil and tempera on oak | 35 × 36 cm | Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden | ||
Portrait of Nikolaus Kratzer[30] | 1528 | Oil and tempera on oak | 83 × 67 cm | Louvre, Paris | ||
Portrait of the Artist's Family[31] | c. 1528–29 | Oil and tempera on paper, cut out and mounted on wood | 79.4 × 64.7 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Rehoboam, fragment of wall painting[32] | 1530 | Painting on plaster | 28 × 41.5 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Miniature Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam[33] | c. 1532 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 10 cm diameter | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Portrait of Hermann von Wedigh[34] | 1532 | Oil and tempera on wood | 42.2 × 32.4 cm | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | ||
Portrait of the Merchant Georg Gisze[35] | 1532 | Oil and tempera on oak | 90.3 × 85.7 cm | Berlin State Museums | ||
Portrait of Thomas Cromwell[36] | c. 1532–33 | Oil and tempera on oak | 76 × 61 cm | Frick Collection, New York | ||
A Merchant of the German Steelyard: 'Hans of Antwerp'[37] | c. 1532–33 | Oil and tempera on oak | Royal Collection | |||
Portrait of a Woman in a White Coif[38] | c. 1532–34 | Oil and tempera on oak | 23.4 × 18.8 cm | Detroit Institute of Arts | ||
Portrait of William Reskimer[39] | c. 1532–34 | Oil and tempera on oak | 46.4 × 33.7 cm | Royal Collection, Windsor Castle | ||
Miniature Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon[40] | c. 1530–1535 | Oil and tempera on oak | 9 cm diameter | Lower Saxony State Museum, Hanover | ||
Miniature Portrait of a Man in a Red Cap[41] | c. 1532–35 | Oil and tempera on wood | 9.5 cm diameter | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | ||
Miniature Portrait of George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny[42] | c. 1532–35 | Duke of Buccleuch collection | ||||
Portrait of Derich Born[43] | 1533 | Oil and tempera on oak | 60.3 × 45 cm | Royal Collection, Windsor Castle | ||
Derich Born[44] | c. 1533 | Oil and tempera on red beech | 13.1 cm diameter | Alte Pinakothek, Munich | ||
Portrait of Robert Cheseman[45] | 1533 | Oil and tempera on oak | 59 × 62.5 cm | Mauritshuis, The Hague | ||
Portrait of Hermann Hillebrandt de Wedigh[46] | 1533 | Oil and tempera on oak | 42.1 × 32.6 cm | Gemäldegalerie, Berlin | ||
Portrait of Dirk Tybis[47] | 1533 | Oil and tempera on oak | 48 × 35 cm | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna | ||
Portrait of Cyriacus Kale[48] | 1533 | Oil and tempera on oak | 60 × 44 cm | Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig | ||
Double Portrait of Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve ("The Ambassadors")[49] | 1533 | Oil and tempera on oak | 207 × 209 cm | National Gallery, London | ||
Portrait Miniature of a Young Man with a Pink[50] [51] | 1533 | Oil on oak | 12.4 × 12.1 cm | Upton House, Bearsted Collection | ||
Portrait of Sir Brian Tuke[52] | c. 1533–35 | Oil and tempera on oak | 49.1 × 38.5 cm | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. | ||
E Cosi Desio me Mena, Allegory of Love[53] | c. 1533–36 | Oil on oak in lozenge format | 45 × 45 cm | J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles | ||
Miniature Portrait of a Court Official[54] | 1534 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 12 cm diameter | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna | ||
Miniature Portrait of a Court Official's Wife | 1534 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 12 cm diameter | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna | ||
Portrait of Charles de Solier, Sieur de Morette[55] | 1534–35 | Oil and tempera on oak | 92.5 × 75.4 cm | Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden | ||
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba[56] | c. 1534–35 | Pen and brush in bistre and grey wash, heightened in white, gold, and oxidised silver with red and green watercolour over black chalk on vellum | 22.9 × 18.2 cm | Royal Library, Windsor | ||
Portrait of Simon George[57] | c. 1534–37 | Oil and tempera on oak | Diameter 31 cm | Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt | ||
Portrait of an Unknown English Lady[58] | 1535 | Tempera on Oak | 32 × 25 cm | Oskar Reinhart Collection 'Am Römerholz', Winterthur | ||
Portrait of Derich Berck[59] | 1536 | Oil and tempera transferred to canvas | 53.3 × 42.6 cm | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | ||
Portrait Miniature of William Roper[60] | c. 1536 | Bodycolour on vellum mounted on card | 4.5 cm diameter | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | ||
Portrait Miniature of Margaret Roper | c. 1536 | Bodycolour on vellum mounted on card | 4.5 cm diameter | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | ||
Portrait of Sir Richard Southwell[61] | 1536 | --> | Oil and tempera on oak | 47.5 × 38 cm | Uffizi, Florence | |
Portrait of Sir Thomas Lestrange[62] | 1536 | Oil and tempera on wood | 39.4 × 26.7 cm | Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas | ||
Portrait of Sir Henry Wyatt[63] | c. 1537 | Oil and tempera on oak | 39 × 31 cm | Louvre, Paris | ||
Portrait of Henry VIII[64] | c. 1536–37 | Oil and tempera on oak | 28 × 20 cm | Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid | ||
Portrait of Jane Seymour[65] | 1537 | Oil and tempera on oak | 65 × 40 cm | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna | ||
Mural of Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, Henry VII, and Elizabeth of York | 1536–1537 | Destroyed in Whitehall Palace fire, 1698 | ||||
Portrait Miniature of Hans Schwarzwaldt[66] | c. 1535–1540 | Watercolour on vellum mounted on playing card | 3.8 cm diameter | Royal Collections, The Hague | ||
Portrait of Christina of Denmark[67] | 1538 | Oil and tempera on oak | 179 × 82.5 cm | National Gallery, London | ||
Hanseatic Merchant[68] | 1538 | Oil on oak panel | 49.6 x 39 cm | Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven CT | ||
Portrait Miniature of Elizabeth, Lady Audley[69] | c. 1538 | Watercolour on vellum mounted on playing card | 5.6 cm diameter | Royal Collection, Windsor castle | ||
Portrait of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk[70] | c. 1539 | Oil and tempera on oak | 80.3 × 61.6 cm | Royal Collection, Windsor Castle | ||
Portrait of Edward, Prince of Wales[71] | c. 1539 | Oil and tempera on oak | 57 × 44 cm | National gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. | ||
Portrait of Anne of Cleves[72] | c. 1539 | Oil and tempera on parchment mounted on canvas | 65 × 48 cm | Louvre, Paris | ||
Portrait Miniature of Anne of Cleves[73] | c. 1539 | Watercolour and gum on vellum in ivory case | 4.6 cm diameter | Victoria and Albert Museum, London | ||
Portrait of a Lady, perhaps Katherine Howard[74] | c. 1540 | Bodycolour on vellum mounted on playing card | 6.4 cm diameter | Royal Collection, Windsor Castle | ||
Portrait Miniature of Katherine Howard[75] | c. 1540 | Watercolour on vellum | 5.3 cm diameter | Buccleuch collection, Strawberry Hill House | ||
Portrait of a Lady, probably a Member of the Cromwell Family[76] | c. 1535–1540 | Oil and tempera on oak | 74 × 48 cm | |||
Portrait Miniature of Jane Small, also called "Jane Pemberton"[77] | c. 1540 | Bodycolour on vellum | 5.3 cm diameter | Victoria and Albert Museum, London | ||
Portrait of an Unknown Man, Holding his Gloves and a Letter[78] | Oil and tempera on oak | Private collection | ||||
Portrait of an Unknown Man[79] | c. 1540–43 | Oil and tempera on oak | English Heritage, Audley End House | |||
Portrait Miniature of Henry Brandon[80] | 1541 | Bodycolour on vellum mounted on playing card | 5.7 cm diameter | Royal Collection, Windsor Castle | ||
Portrait Miniature of Charles Brandon[81] | 1541 | Bodycolour on vellum mounted on playing card | 5.7 cm diameter | Royal Collection, Windsor Castle | ||
Roelof de Vos van Steenwijk (circa 1504 - circa 1564)[82] | 1541 | On oak | 47.5 × 37.3 cm | Berlin State Museums | ||
Portrait of a Young Merchant[83] | 1541 | Oil and tempera on oak | 46.5 × 34.8 cm | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna | ||
Portrait Miniature of a Young Woman with a White Coif[84] | 1541 | Oil and tempera on panel | 11.11 cm diameter | Los Angeles County Museum of Art | ||
Portrait of a Man with a Falcon[85] | 1542 | Oil and tempera on oak | 25 × 19 cm | Mauritshuis, The Hague | ||
Portrait of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey[86] | c. 1542 | Oil and tempera on oak | 55.5 × 44 cm | São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil | ||
Portrait of an English Lady[87] | c. 1541–43 | Oil and tempera on oak | 19.2 × 15.3 cm | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna | ||
Self-portrait | c. 1542–1543 | Coloured chalks and pen | 32× 26 cm | Uffizi, Florence | ||
Portrait of Dr John Chambers[88] | c. 1543 | Oil and tempera on oak | 51 × 44 cm | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna | ||
Portrait of Sir William Butts[89] | c. 1543 | Oil and tempera, formerly on oak panel, transferred to canvas in 1941 | 47 × 36.8 cm | Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston | ||
Portrait of Lady Margaret Butts | c. 1543 | Oil and tempera on oak | 46 × 37 cm | Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston | ||
Portrait of Johann von Schwarzwaldt[90] | 1543 | Tempera on parchment | 5.4 cm diameter | Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow | ||
Portrait of Antony the Good, Duke of Lorraine[91] | c. 1543 | Oil and tempera on oak | 51 × 37 cm | Berlin State Museums | ||
Henry VIII and the Barber Surgeons, reworked and overpainted by other hands[92] | c. 1543 | Oil on oak | 108.3 × 312.4 cm | Worshipful Company of Barbers, London |
Work | Description | Date | Medium | Size | Location | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portrait of a Woman from Southern Germany, former attribution[93] | c. 1520–1525 | Oil on panel | Mauritshuis, The Hague | |||
Portrait of Nikolaus Kratzer, after Holbein[94] | c. 1528 | Oil on panel | National Portrait Gallery (London) | |||
Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, Holbein's workshop[95] | c. 1530 | Oil and tempera on limewood | 18.2 × 14.5 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Portrait of Sir Nicholas Carew, workshop or follower of Holbein[96] | Probably 1530s | Oil and tempera on wood | 95.3 × 112 cm | Duke of Buccleuch, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries | ||
Portrait of an Unidentified Gentleman, workshop or follower of Holbein[97] | 1535 | Oil on oak | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | |||
Portrait of Sir Nicholas Poyntz, after Holbein[98] | c.1535 | Oil on panel | National Portrait Gallery, London | |||
Portrait Miniature of an Unidentified Man, possibly Hans of Antwerp, workshop of Holbein[99] | c. 1535–40 | Oil and tempera on oak | 13 cm diameter | Victoria and Albert Museum, London. | ||
Portrait of Jane Seymour, after Holbein[100] | c. 1537 | Oil and tempera on oak | 26.3 × 18.7 cm | Mauritshuis, The Hague | ||
Portrait Miniature of Thomas Cromwell, after Holbein[101] | Watercolour and bodycolour on vellum | National Portrait Gallery, London | ||||
Portrait Miniature of Thomas Cromwell, after Holbein[102] | Watercolour and bodycolour on vellum | National Portrait Gallery, London | ||||
Portrait of Prince Edward, after Holbein[103] | 16th century, | Oil on panel | Berger Collection, Denver Art Museum | |||
Portrait of a Young Woman, Holbein's Workshop[104] | c. 1540 - 1545 | Oil and gold on oak | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | |||
Lady Lee (Margaret Wyatt), Holbein's workshop[105] | c. 1540 | Oil on panel | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | |||
Portrait of Henry VIII, Holbein's workshop[106] | c. 1540 | Oil on oak | 88.2 × 75 cm | Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome | ||
Portrait of Elizabeth, Lady Rich, after Holbein[107] | c. 1540 | Oil and tempera on wood (probably oak) | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | |||
Portrait of Henry VIII in a Great Coat Holding a Staff, after Holbein[108] | 1542 | Oil and tempera on oak | 92.7 × 66.7 cm | Castle Howard, Yorkshire | ||
Portrait Miniature of Hans Holbein the Younger, copy of Holbein's self-portrait, probably by Lucas Horenbout[109] | 1543 | Watercolour on vellum mounted on playing card | 3.7 cm diameter | Wallace Collection, London | ||
Portrait of Henry VIII, after Holbein[110] | After 1537, possibly c 1567 | Oil on canvas | 233.7 × 134.6 cm | Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool | ||
Portrait of Sir William Butts, after Holbein[111] | c 1543 | Oil on panel | 47 × 37.5 cm | National Portrait Gallery, London | ||
Portrait of George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham[112] | Oil on panel | Private collection | ||||
Edward VI (1537–1553), When Duke of Cornwall. Holbein's Workshop [113] | c. 1545; reworked 1547 or later | Oil and gold on oak | 32.4 cm diameter | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | ||
Portrait Miniature of Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, after Holbein[114] | Probably second half of 16th century | Watercolour on vellum laid on card | Oval of | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | ||
The Family of Thomas More, by Rowland Lockey, after Holbein's lost painting[115] | 1592 | Oil on canvas | Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire | |||
Dresden Madonna, copy by Bartholomäus Sarburgh of Holbein's Darmstadt Madonna[116] | c. 1635–37 | Oil on oak | 159 × 103 cm | Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden | ||
Portrait of Johann Froben, after Holbein[117] | 16th or beginning of 17th century, after an original of 1520–26 | Oil and tempera on oak | 39.5 × 33.5 cm | Kunstmuseum Basel | ||
Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, Holbein's workshop, with later additions[118] | c. 1523–40, background c. 1629 | Oil on wood | Royal Collection, Windsor Castle | |||
Henry VII, Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII, and Jane Seymour, copy by Remigius van Leemput of Holbein's Whitehall Mural, destroyed by fire in 1698[119] | 1667 | Oil on canvas | 88.9 × 99.2 cm | Royal Collection, Windsor Castle |