Home > Hans Holbein the Younger

He was born in Augsburg, Bavaria.

He first learned painting from his father Hans Holbein the Elder. Later he went with his brother Ambrosius Holbein to Basel where he met many scholars, among them the Dutch humanist Erasmus. Erasmus asked him to illustrate his satires. Holbein also illustrated other books, including contributing to Martin Luther's translation of the Bible. Like his father, he designed stained glass windows and painted portraitVincent Van Gogh A portrait is a painting, photograph, or other artistic representation of a person. Portraits are often simple "head shots" and are not usually overly elaborate or creative. The intent is to show the basic appearance of the person, and ocs. The Reformation made it difficult for Holbein to support himself as an artist in Basel and he set out for LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri. Erasmus furnished him with a letter of introduction addressed to the English statesman and author Sir Thomas MoreThomas More ( February 7, 1478— July 6, 1535) was briefly Lord Chancellor of England under King Henry VIII and had a European reputation as a humanist author. His most famous work is Utopia (circa 1516) in which he created an imaginary island-kingdom in w. Holbein painted many portraits at the court of Henry VIII. While there he designed state robes for the king.

Holbein also designed many of the extravagant monuments and decorations for the coronation of Henry's second wife, Anne BoleynHans Holbein the Younger. Legend has it that this image is the basis for the queens in a deck of cards, but the actual inspiration was Anne's mother-in-law Elizabeth of York Anne Boleyn, Marchioness of Pembroke (about 1507 May 19, 1536) was the second wif, in the summer of 1533Events January 25 King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort. March 30 Thomas Cranmer becomes Archbishop of Canterbury May 23 King Henry VIII of England marriage with Catherine of Aragon officially declared annulled. Catherin. Several sketches are in existence said to show Anne Boleyn, as sketched by Holbein. One, however, shows a woman dressed in a plain nightgown and with rather plump features. Some have said that this shows the queen when she was pregnant, sometime between 1533 and 1535, but recent research would suggest that this sketch is actually one of Anne's ladies-in-waiting, probably Lady Margaret Lee or one of her sisters. It seems more likely that any sketch or portrait Holbein painted of Anne Boleyn was destroyed after she was beheaded in 1536, on false charges of treason, adultery, incest and witchcraft.

Holbein definitely painted Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, and his portrait of her accurately reflects Jane's appearance (she was not famed for her beauty). He also painted Jane's sister, Elizabeth Seymour, who married the son of Thomas Cromwell. This portrait was incorrectly identified as Henry's fifth wife, Queen Catherine Howard when it was discovered in the Victorian era.

In later years he worked in both Basel and London. On one of his stays in London he painted German merchant Georg Giese at the Hanseatic League outpost in London, called the Steelyard (Stahlhof).

Holbein painted Anne of Cleves for Henry VIII during marriage negotiations, a common practice in the age before photography. Henry criticized the portrait as having been too flattering, but it seems more likely that Henry was more impressed by extravagant praise for Anne, rather than Holbein's portrait. There is some debate over whether or not a miniature of a young woman in a gold dress and jewels is in fact Holbein's painting of Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard.

While Holbein was working on another portrait of Henry, he died of plague.