Hans Holbein der Jüngere

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497 or 1498 - 29.11.1543) virtually celebrated the beauty of the world and the fascination of knowledge. At the same time, Holbein, the court painter of King Henry VIII at the time, recalled the transience of the earthly.

Nuremberg was his home town and the equally determined and highly talented painter already had a wider view beyond his own nose at the beginning of the 16th century: after his father Hans Holbein the Elder had given him the tools of the trade, Hans Holbein the Younger first went to Basel. There he acquired civil rights and freedoms and soon became a protagonist of the Swiss art scene. Holbein took lessons in writing and Latin - but mainly he painted everything there was to paint. His repertoire consisted of portraits, wall decorations and religious paintings, book illustrations and designs for jewellery and stained glass windows. However, he busily robbed himself of many commission options - and in Basel the world became too small for him.

Holbein portrayed Erasmus of Rotterdam several times, and Erasmus belonged to Holbein's closer circle of friends. Armed with a letter of reference from the humanist addressed to Lord Chancellor Thomas More, Holbein travelled via Antwerp to London in 1526. Thomas More received Holbein in a friendly manner and commissioned him to paint a large-format family portrait. Erasmus of Rotterdam was assured by More that he would do his utmost to promote the young painter in England. Thus Holbein the Younger soon painted opulent decorative pictures for the opulent festive architecture of Henry VIII, thus demonstrating his great mastery time and again. Henry Tudor was enthusiastic. It is said that he discovered that seven peasants could easily be made into seven counts, but none of the counts into a single Holbein - and Holbein painted portrait after portrait of the members of the royal court. Emotionally, Holbein was still connected with Basel at this time. But in 1539, after a stay in Basel, he broke all bridges, went back to the court of Heinrich and was appointed court painter by return of post.

Whether Catherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves or Catherine Howard: Hans Holbein the Younger portrayed the squad of the king's wives and of course Heinrich as well. Nevertheless, the monumental painting "The Envoys" was to become the master's most important work. The friendship painting portrays the French diplomats Georges de Selve and Jean de Dinteville, both of them fine spirits with a penchant for the liberal arts. One component of the painting is a cleverly concealed skull, which is synonymous with the ambiguity in Holbein's work: on the one hand, his art celebrates the grandiose beauty of the world, and on the other hand it reminds us of the transience of the things around us. Thus the realistic effect changes towards a surface of almost cryptic allusions. This is one aspect that continues to make Holbein's work so interesting today. In 1543, the year of his death, Hans Holbein painted the portrait of the clergyman and royal personal physician John Chambers. This painting reflects determination and spirituality in a particularly subtle way. Hans Holbein the Younger died in London on 29 November 1543.