Johannes Hans Holbein, the younger (1497-1543): German painter, printmaker, designer, portraitist. I have posted Holbein before, but watching the BBC4 documentary spurred me into posting more. Holbein began his career as a religious painter, inspired by his Gothic painter father, but his portraits of his friend, Erasmus, brought him his first international acclaim and led to England and his acceptance into Sir Thomas Mores Humanist circle, followed by his establishment as court artist to Henry VIII and Queen Anne (Boleyn). He lived largely in England for the rest of his life, dying of plague - or another mysterious infection - at the age of 46, leaving a wife and family in Basel and illegitimate offspring in England. Now recognised as arguably the finest portraitist of the 16th Century - and possibly of all time - Holbein is often referred to as an early Realist painter due to his amazingly lifelike images. It is exclusively due to him that we know what important Tudor figures such as Sir Thomas More actually looked like. He was also possibly the first artist to put a complex optical illusion into a painting, The Ambassadors (fifth picture). (Look at the shape in the foreground from various angles until the image is revealed.)
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 11:05:28 +0000
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