Hans Holbein the Younger
Sir Henry Guildford (1489-1532) ©
Hans Holbein (1497/8 – 1543) was born in southern Germany. In 1516, he moved to the Swiss city of Basel where he worked as a portraitist, book illustrator and designer of stained glass. Among his employers was the prolific publisher Johannes Froben, who commissioned illustrations for books by Sir Thomas More and Desiderius Erasmus.
By 1526, religious changes in Basel had led to a reduced market for art, driving Holbein to seek work in London. With him he carried an introduction from Erasmus to More, who gave the artist his first English commissions. Apart from a return to Basel between 1528 and 1532, Holbein spent the rest of his life in England. By 1536, he had been appointed to the prestigious post of King’s Painter to Henry VIII.
Holbein’s paintings and their preparatory drawings reveal much about his working methods. Holbein made chalk drawings of his sitters from life, usually working these up into finished oil paintings. The portraits of Henry Guildford and William Reskimer and their preparatory drawings allow us to follow Holbein’s ideas as he moved from one to the other.
An important group of Holbein’s drawings and paintings survives in the Royal Collection. The drawings were owned by Henry VIII’s son Edward VI, an indication of the early value set upon the artist’s deft and sensitive portrayal of his sitters.
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Johannes Froben
After Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Desiderius Erasmus
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
'Noli Me Tangere'
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Sir Henry Guildford (1489-1532)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Sir Henry Guildford (1489-1532)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Derich Born (1510?->1549)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
William Reskimer (d.1552)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
William Reskimer (?-1552)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
A Merchant of the German Steelyard: 'Hans of Antwerp'
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Sir John Godsalve (c. 1505-1556)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Grace, Lady Parker
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Sir Richard Southwell (1502/3-1564)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Thomas Howard, Third Duke of Norfolk (1473-1554)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Elizabeth, Lady Audley (? - 1564)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Portrait of a Lady, perhaps Katherine Howard (1520-1542)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (1535-1551)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk (1537/8-1551)
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)
Utopia
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
New Testament
Angelo Poliziano (1454–1494)
Miscellanea
Apollonius Rhodius (c. 295-215 BC)
The Argonautica
Henry VIII, King of England (1491-1547)
Assertio Septem Sacramentorum adversus Martinum Lutherum
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Contra Henricum Regem Angliae
Angelo Poliziano (1454–1494)
Letters of Angelo Poliziano
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Edward, Prince of Wales (1537-1553)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Princess Mary, later Queen (1516-1558)
Remigius van Leemput (d. 1675)
Henry VII, Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Sir John More
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Elizabeth Dauncey
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Margaret Giggs
Christian von Mechel (1737-1817) after Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
The Family of Thomas More
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Queen Jane Seymour (1508/9-1537)
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
