If you were anybody (as opposed to a nobody) in or around the court of Henry VIII (1491-1547), you wanted your portrait painted, and the guy you wanted to paint it was Hans Holbein.
Holbein’s near life-like characters and his ability to work with his subjects to project the image that they wanted netted him dozens of commissions and a very good living during his years in London.
Many of those portraits, including those of the king and his several wives, survive today and are currently on display in an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Center in Los Angeles. Those who can’t get there in person can view the exhibition at the link below.
Here’s part of what the exhibition notes say about Holbein’s work:
In his portraiture Holbein immortalized a vibrant Renaissance culture of self-definition, luxury, knowledge, and wit. He devised inventive pictorial solutions for a variety of clients: celebrity scholars, ambitious merchants, and officials at the English court. Holbein achieved the powerful impression of presence and specificity by means of a flexible working process and rapport with his sitters. Some patrons demanded not just accurate likenesses but celebrations of their values, aspirations, and professional identities. Source: Holbein: Capturing Character in the Renaissance
Holbein was born in Augsburg, Germany, in 1497 (or thereabouts), the son of Hans Holbein, a well-known and respected painter of the time. The son eventually surpassed his father in fame, wealth, and artistic ability, so that today the father is known as Hans Holbein the Elder and the son as Hans Holbein the Younger.
The Younger moved to Basel, Switzerland in 1515, where he launched his career and enjoyed the vibrant culture of the time. That vibrancy turned to turmoil with the stirrings of the Protestant Reformation, and commissions for his work dwindled. Still, in 1523 he painted a portrait of the well-known humanist and writer Erasmus of Rotterdam—a portrait that made the painter famous. Not only did he paint portraits, but he also mastered the art of woodcuts, which had revolutionized the way books were designed and printed, and he achieved a good deal of fame for his work in that realm.
Holbein felt constrained by the growing conflicts in central Europe and in 1526 looked for a better environment in which to pursue his art.
London, he believed, was a town where he could stretch out his talents and make a good living, and he did just that. It didn’t hurt that he carried a letter of recommendation from Erasmus to his friend Sir Thomas More, then a close advisor to the King of England. More did his part by arranging commissions for the young painter, including one of his entire family. That painting doesn’t survive, but the preliminary sketches do. The group portrait was an original concept and would eventually gain acceptance throughout Europe.
Holbein went back to Basel in 1528 and stayed for about four years. During that time, Reformation conflicts again arose, and Holbein’s art was not universally admired or accepted. In 1532, he returned to London where the atmosphere was also politically charged but the king was in firm control. Holbein distanced himself from Thomas More and his humanist circle and found favor with the court’s rising stars, Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell.
He traveled back and forth to Europe, painting portraits of the rich, the royal, and the well-connected. One of those was Anne of Cleeves. The portrait, which was said to be a flattering one, is thought to be one of the reasons Henry VIII chose her as his third wife after Anne Boleyn was executed. The king was disappointed with her appearance when he met her, but he never blamed Holbein. The fall of Thomas Cromwell from the king’s graces did damage his career, however.
Holbein died in 1543 at the age of 45. The cause of his death was probably the plague, although this is not known for sure. What is certain is the large body of work that he created and the influence on painting, particularly portraiture, that he left behind.
