Hans Holbein the Younger

Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497 – between October 7 and November 29 , 1543) is a German and Swiss artist and printmaker who works in a Northern Renaissance style.

He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the sixteenth century.

He also produces religious art, satire, and Reformation propaganda, and makes a significant contribution to the history of book design.

He is called "the Younger" to distinguish him from his father, Hans Holbein the Elder, an accomplished painter of the Late Gothic school.

Born in Augsburg, Holbein works mainly in Basel as a young artist.

At first he paints murals and religious works and designs for stained glass windows and printed books.

He also paints the occasional portrait, making his international mark with portraits of the humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam.

When the Reformation reaches Basel, Holbein works for reformist clients while continuing to serve traditional religious patrons.

His Late Gothic style is enriched by artistic trends in Italy, France, and the Netherlands, as well as by Renaissance humanism.

The result is a combined aesthetic uniquely his own.

Holbein travels to England in 1526 in search of work, with a recommendation from Erasmus.

He is welcomed into the humanist circle of Thomas More, where he quickly builds a high reputation.

After returning to Basel for four years, he resumes his career in England in 1532.

This time he works under the patronage of Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell.

By 1535, he is King's Painter to King Henry VIII.

In this role, he produces not only portraits and festive decorations but designs for jewelry, plate, and other precious objects.

His portraits of the royal family and nobles are a record of the court in the years when Henry is asserting his supremacy over the English church.

Holbein's art is prized from early in his career.

The French poet and reformer Nicholas Bourbon dubs him "the Apelles of our time," a typical contemporary accolade.

Holbein founds no school.

After his death, some of his work will be lost, but much will be collected, and by the nineteenth century, Holbein will be recognized among the great portrait masters.

Recent exhibitions have also highlighted his versatility.

He turned his fluid line to designs ranging from intricate jewelry to monumental frescoes.

Holbein's art has sometimes been called realist, since he drew and painted with a rare precision.

His portraits are renowned in their time for their likeness; and it is through Holbein's eyes that many famous figures of his day, such as Erasmus and More, are now "seen".

Holbein was never content, however, with outward appearance.

He embedded layers of symbolism, allusion, and paradox in his art, to the lasting fascination of scholars.

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