The Life Of Hans Holbein The Younger | The Tudor Court Painter. Famous Tudor Artist.

His paintings and drawings of the members of the Tudor court are recognised the world over and in some cases even help to shape history. Everyone from Henry VIII to Jane Seymour to Anne of Cleves sat for him and his images possess a lifelike quality that has made these people more real to us than any document ever could. I'm speaking of course about the famed artist Hans Holbein the Younger and in today's much requested art history documentary I'm going to tell you about his extraordinary life, show you many of his beautiful works and reveal some incredible behind-the-scenes details about how he created his paintings which I didn't even know until I saw his original preparatory sketches up close and was able to photograph them. So just before we get going I wanted to remind you that my book Find Your Irish Ancestors Online is now available for pre-order from Amazon as an e-book. There's a link in the description box below and will shortly be released as both an e-book and a paperback. It's a directory of hundreds of websites which provide certificates, transcripts, photographs and other information that can help you build out your Irish family tree, learn your family stories so that your ancestors feel like three-dimensional people and feel better connected to your past. The websites are graded on a simple star system to tell you which ones are the best and the book will also share with you which ones are free and many are, plus provide tips on how best to use them. So whether you're a seasoned genealogist or you just want a new hobby if you have Irish ancestry I urge you to check this out. Hans Holbein the Younger was born in Augsburg in Germany in 1497 or 1498 to Hans Holbein the Elder and his wife Anna Meyer. The Elder Holbein was an artist known for his religious works such as the one you see here as was his other son Ambrosius who had Creating images was therefore the family business and we might say that paint flowed through Hans the Younger's veins rather than blood. We know next to nothing about the boy's youth though we do have this picture of the brothers created by their father in 1511. He obviously trained as an artist though and it's not much of a leap to say he must have worked in his father's studio. By the year 1515 both the Holbein boys or rather young men as they were by then had moved to Basel in Switzerland where they continued to ply their trade as artists. We know they were there by that year as a copy of the book Praise of Folly by famed scholar Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam survives which had marginal illustrations by both men. The book belonged to a schoolmaster called and was their first commission. They also created this sign for him in 1516 with Hans painting one side of it and Ambrosius the other. Hans painted the men at the table. It is during this time that we also begin to see the portraits that Holbein the Younger would become so famous for. The first of these was a 1516 double portrait of the mayor of the town Jacob Mayor Zumhassen and his wife He next travelled elsewhere in Switzerland working with his father in Lucerne on the decoration of the house of the chief magistrate there a merchant called Jacob von Hertenstein and painting Jacob's son Benedict as you see here. The inscription on the work reads when I looked like this I was 22 years old and Holbein has dated it and signed it with his initials HH. Sadly this young man died just five years later. By the end of September 1517 Hans was back in Basel where he was admitted to its painter's guild. Ambrosius Holbein had also been admitted to its guild of heaven in 1517 and gained citizenship in 1518 but he died in about 1519 at least that's when records of him cease the year before Hans gained his own Basel citizenship. Around the same time Hans also married a widow named Elspeth Schmidt. They would have three children together called Philip Catherine and Jacob the older two of whom you see here with their mother. As for Hans Holbein the Elder he died in 1524 and I'm afraid I don't know what happened to his wife Anna. Hans Holbein the Younger would stay in Basel until 1526 and create many other works of art during his residency. Not all have survived and it is a great pity we will never be able to see for ourselves the interior decor he created for the house of Hans und Hans or the classical and religious imagery he painted in the town hall in the early 1520s and again in 1530 when he finally got around to painting the third wall he'd been hired to do. We do have some of his works from this period though. There is the excruciatingly realistic 1522 painting of the deceased Jesus Christ or at least it's a realistic depiction of a corpse. I'm not saying Jesus actually looked like this and this portrait he created of Erasmus which is one of three he painted of this man and gosh what's that Erasmus is writing. It's almost like he could see the future and had excellent taste in YouTube videos. Although the Tudor nerds amongst us might remember him best for his portraits of members of that royal family and its court in fact a great number of Holbein's works follow biblical or classical themes as you can see from these examples which include his version of the Last Supper. He was also incredibly diverse doing far more than just painting. He created designs for stained glass windows, wood cuts and even book covers as you can see from these examples. Later in the video I'll also share with you some of his ideas for jewelry and other objects including items he Unfortunately for Holbein the mid to late 1520s were not a great time to be creating religious imagery in some parts of Europe. The Reformation was gaining traction and such items became less and less popular as Lutheran ideas which would eventually morph into what we would now call Protestantism took hold. He may have already tried traveling to Milan and France during the first half of that decade we're not really sure but by late 1526 he decided to try his luck in England where the Reformation had not yet spread. He traveled via Antwerp and carried with him a letter of introduction from Erasmus to a Peter Gillis who lived there in which the scholar told his friend that the arts in Basel were frozen and that Holbein was going to England to try to Once again Hans relied on Erasmus' connections to get a head start and was taken into the home of one of his correspondents upon arrival. He just so happened to be the famed Thomas Moore. Moore wrote to his old friend that December that Your painter is a wonderful artist but I fear he will not find England as fruitful and profitable as he hopes. However I shall do my best to ensure that he does not find it quite so unfruitful. Moore was as good as his word and better for Holbein was in fact successful and quickly too. In May 1527 Henry VIII had a banqueting house built at his palace of Greenwich in which two triumphal arches were included and a payment of £4.10 shillings was made to Master Hans for the painting of the Plate of Turan. This is a scene showing the defeat of the French in battle which standeth on the backside of the great arch. This would seem to be Hans Holbein and he was also hired to complete a ceiling picture of the heavens. No doubt with Moore's help and that of another Erasmus connection Sir Henry Guilford Holbein secured a number of lucrative aristocratic commissions some of which you can see here. One of my personal favourites from this time is Holbein's painting of Moore's family dating to 1527. The original was unfortunately lost to fire in the 18th century but we have a number of copies including this one in the National Portrait Gallery in London. It's huge and displayed behind glass so you'll have to excuse the reflections you can see in my photograph of it which show the painting on the wall opposite it. There was simply no way for me to entirely avoid these. I think you can still tell what an impressive feat it is though. Holbein's technique was to make drawings of his subjects first which would then be used to create the final paintings. Here are some examples of drawings with the final portraits beside them for instance. Not all drawings became paintings, perhaps the potential clients changed their minds. Not all were labelled and those that were were often labelled later on and incorrectly. This and the fact that later writers have become confused over what certain shooter figures' names and titles were at a given point has led to a number of misidentifications. This for instance is not Mother Jack, nursemaid to Edward VI. She is in fact Margaret Giggs, a member of Thomas Moore's extended family and you can see her again in the final Moore family portrait. This image is often touted even in TV documentaries featuring supposedly reputable historians as being Jane Parker Boleyn, sister-in-law of Anne Boleyn but it is most definitely not her. Furthermore there is no reason to think that these two portraits show Anne's father and brother either and this one of a blonde woman in a nightcap is on very shaky ground indeed when it is called Anne Boleyn no matter what the 18th century label on it says. I have videos on the supposed Boleyn pictures already and all are linked below for you. The proprietary drawings could also have additional information to remind the artist about colours, textures or decorative elements which he wanted to include in the final painting as we see in this image of William Parr, Marquess of Northampton and brother to Henry VIII's final wife Catherine Parr. Before we move on to the next remarkable aspect of Holbein's technique, to support the channel and stay up to date with all my latest episodes make sure to tap those like and subscribe buttons and switch on the notification bell. You can also become a member of my YouTube community by hitting the join button below videos or on my channel home page and then following the on-screen instructions. For more bonus material from History Calling you can find me on Patreon, Instagram and my Amazon storefront and if you sign up to my free newsletter on my website historycallingofficial.com you'll get a complimentary guide giving you five quick and easy tips for recognising good history books and bad. All the links you'll need are below for you. Another feature of Holbein's modus operandi may be seen most clearly in this 1527 preparatory drawing of Thomas Moore and it is the use of pinprick holes in drawings through which chalk dust could be rubbed onto another sheet to create an outline. The holes aren't obvious from this front shot of the drawing but if I show you the reverse side hopefully you can see them. If you're still struggling here's a close-up of one portion of it and of course you can always pause the video for a better look. Holbein is also credited with designing the decorations seen on this 1527 suit of armour which was made in Greenwich and was most likely created for Henry VIII. The decor is rather worn but we can still make out much of it by zooming in. The trip to London had been a success and made Holbein enough money that when he returned to Basel in mid 1528 he was able to buy a house followed by the house next door in March 1531. The reformation was really beginning to bite there though when it came to art and as religious works were denounced as idolatrous and destroyed it became harder to get commissions. In late 1531 Holbein therefore left his family again in the city and returned to England. He even converted to the burgeoning Protestant religion. His willingness to go with the flow on religious matters was certainly advantageous given Henry VIII's ongoing problems with Rome at the time as the Pope refused to annul the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. This led to an effectual split from the Holy See in 1533 which was solidified by later legislation and the King's excommunication in 1538. Under normal circumstances a citizen of Basel was not allowed to be absent from the city for more than two years. Note that Holbein had respected that rule in the 1520s and gone back even before the allotted time had been spent in England nor could they work for any foreign prince but by this point Holbein was so well regarded that the rules were bent for him. He was allowed to work for Henry VIII and though he did make some trips back home including in 1538 he was allowed to remain based in England without forfeiting his citizenship. This was particularly helpful no doubt as Holbein was a bad boy when it came to how he treated his wife. His will would later show that he had two children in England and was possibly supporting their mother too while his legitimate family stayed in Switzerland and were barely ever seen by him. This second stint in England was the period of his life for which I think he is best known as he created some of the most iconic images of the family and court of King Henry. It was a while however before he started painting the royals and instead between 1532 and 1536 we find him undertaking other commissions. These included a portrait entitled Hands of Antwerp in 1532, the designing of a table fountain for Anne Boleyn so that she could give it to Henry VIII as a new year's gift at the end of 1532 and this famous portrait of Thomas Cromwell another of Henry's favoured ministers which dates to 1532-33 when Cromwell was master of the jewel office. Incidentally the book you see on the desk next to him was located recently and can be seen here on show in Hever Castle. There was also a painting of a statue of Adam and Eve in 1533-4 possibly as a decoration for the cradle of the future Elizabeth I because Holbein's payment for it appears next to a payment for her crib in the royal accounts and jewellery designs for Anne. The ones you see here are monograms of the initials H and A for Henry and Anne as contrary to popular belief it wasn't just a bee pendant that Anne wore she did have other letter jewellery. Hands also worked for a group of German merchants known as the Hanseatic League who operated next to the River Thames and we see one of the so-called steelyard portraits he created for them here helpfully dated to 1532. These merchants were so happy with his work that they had him create two paintings for their assembly room and may also have had him design a pageant to celebrate the coronation of Anne Boleyn in June 1533 though whether his picture of the pageant is a design of his own making or just a record of what it looked like is debated. It was also in 1533 that he created one of his most famous and popular works The Ambassadors which shows the then French ambassador to England Jean de Dinteville on the who was then visiting De Dinteville. Hans may have hoped that when the ambassador took the picture back to France the French king Francois I would see it and hire him but as it happened he never did get the opportunity to admire it and Holbein remained in London. It was only with the execution of Anne and the arrival of Jane Seymour as Queen that we can be sure that Hans was now He is referred to in a letter of 1536 as the king's painter and later records show his salary was a very respectable 30 pounds per annum. From here on out the most famous Tudor portraits came thick and fast. We have this image of the new queen from that year or perhaps 1537. It exists in multiple versions and sometimes shows her wearing the Tudor consort necklace. I have a video on that necklace which I'll leave linked for you. I suspect that the necklace is a later addition to the final portrait though as the preparatory sketch does not show her wearing all of it. She's wearing the pendant but not the matching chain of rubies and gold alternating with clusters of four pearls. Holbein also designed this cup for Jane during her brief time as queen and painted the lost Whitehall mural so named because it was in Whitehall Palace. It dated to 1537 as well and showed Henry his wife and his parents. Sadly it was destroyed by fire in 1698 but it survives in copies and also in this partial drawing showing the figures of Henry VIII and his father Henry VII which is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London and which I think gives you an idea of how large the original portrait must have been. Then there is this solo portrait of Henry made in around 1537 which has defined his image for many people in the century since. We have this beautiful image of Jane's son the future Edward VI which probably dates to 1539 and was the new year's gift given to the king by Holbein at the end of that year. I've always loved this one for the very vibrant colour of his outfit and the details on the gold embroidery. The preparatory sketch for Edward is quite basic though which makes me think that it was a struggle to get the baby prince to stay still long enough to be drawn. There is another drawing labelled later as being the king's older daughter Princess Mary, later Mary I but there is nothing for little Princess Elizabeth who was the least important tutor around in the late 1530s given her mother's fall from grace and death. Holbein also created a number of beautiful miniature portraits during his second sojourn in England many of which still survive and which are remarkable for the level of detail he was able to invest them with despite their tiny size. My personal favourite is this one which is likely to be of Henry's fifth queen Catherine Howard and shows her wearing the same tutor consort necklace we saw around James Seymour's neck. There is a very unconvincing theory that it shows wife number four Anne of Cleves and you guessed it I have videos all about Catherine and Anne's portraiture which I'll link below for you. I've jumped ahead a little bit by getting to Anne and Catherine though so let's just backtrack a moment to James Seymour who had died after giving birth to Edward in October 1537. It was this event which would be the cause of yet more commissions from Henry VIII as the king dispatched his trusted painter around Europe to take the likenesses of a number of princesses that he was considering making his fourth wife. Having sent Holbein to Brussels in March 1538 Henry was particularly taken with the picture brought back to him of the 16-year-old widow Christina of Denmark Duchess of Milan. Holbein had three hours with the Duchess and the now lost drawing he created of her will have been used to make the final portrait you see here. That marriage did not proceed of course but you can see my video on Christina's life to hear what happened to her after she escaped to Henry VIII. Next it was on to paint Louise von Guise in Joanneville and Anna of Lorraine in Nancy whose images do not survive. Then another three women in Burgundy and the stop off in Basel I already mentioned to check in on his family. In 1539 he was dispatched to the Duchy of Cleves to capture the likenesses of the reigning Duke's two sisters Anne and Amalia and on the 11th of August one of Henry's ambassadors in Cleves Nicholas Wooten wrote to the king that your gracious servant Hans Albion hath taken the effigies of my lady Anne and the lady Amalie meaning Amalia and hath expressed their images very lively. When Henry saw Anne's picture he believed he was on to a winner and the marriage took place in January 1540. Unfortunately he took an immediate dislike to his new wife however and annulled their union that July to marry her lady-in-waiting Catherine Howard. Cromwell who had helped to arrange the Cleves match was beheaded for his trouble but Holbein escaped and it is worth noting that Henry never actually said that the portrait of Anne misrepresented her face nor did he criticise her looks instead focusing on her body. Presumably had Holbein badly misconstrued her appearance he would have paid a much higher price but as it was all that seems to have happened is that the royal commissions more or less dried up barring the miniature which is probably Catherine Howard and this drawing of Prince Edward which looks as though it could date to the start of the 1540s. By this time the artist was apparently financially secure anyway. During his trip back to Basel in the autumn of 1538 he had signed a contract with the authorities there by which they agreed to give him a salary of 50 guilders for life and to take care of his family during his absence with a stipend of 40 guilders per year. He was given two years to bring his affairs in England to completion after which he was to return home but he would be allowed to continue to work for foreign princes and to export his works abroad for seal. As it happened though for reasons unknown Holbein never did return to Basel. He was back in England by October 1538 and barring the trip to Cleves he stayed there. We know he had his second family in the country so perhaps that was a factor but we'll likely never understand his full motivations. In 1541 he was recorded as living in the parish of St Andrew Undershaft in Aldgate Ward in London and he took on denizen status that same year meaning that he was allowed certain additional citizenship rights despite being a foreigner. He painted this self-portrait in which he gives his age as 45 in the final year or so of his life and died in the city in November 1543 most likely of plague. Despite all the money he must have made over the years he had debts of 6 pounds 13 shillings and no assets listed. Holbein's reputation for incredibly lifelike pictures and portraits has long outlived him securing for him a place in the annals of history which he could surely only have dreamed of in life. He's even made an appearance in the musical Six which is about the six wives of Henry VIII by way of the bonkers but fun song House of Holbein. Such was the number of his creations that even despite the fact that many have not survived to us I have only been able to show you a small selection of what does still exist here and I certainly urge you to google his works to take a look at some of the others. If you click my art history playlist you'll find nearly all the other videos I mentioned in this one so that you can learn more about his paintings and subjects. Do let me know in the comments which of his pictures is your favorite I'll actually be listing my top five for my upper level patrons this week and until next time keep learning.