<strong>Hans Holbein</strong> the Younger 149781543 one of the most versatile and admiredpainters of the Northern Renaissance trained under his father in Augsbu... » 

Hans Holbein the Younger 149781543 one of the most versatile and admiredpainters of the Northern Renaissance trained under his father in Augsburg andthen worked for leading patrons in Switzerland before settling in England asCourt Painter to Henry VIII. To commemorate the fivehundredth anniversary ofthe artists birth Oskar Batschmann and Pascal Griener offer this richlyillustrated bookthe first comprehensive monograph on the artist to appear inmore than forty yearswhich is a major advance in our understanding ofHolbeins contribution to European art. The authors reexamine every aspect of aremarkable career and further illuminate the artistic and cultural influencesthat affected the artist.Holbein was a hugely ambitious artist and even during his formative years inLucerne and Basel made designs for jewelry stained glass and woodcuts andpainted major altarpieces and portraits. He also carried out several monumentaldecorative schemes for private houses and civic buildings. In his commissionsHolbein sought to rival the greatest masters of Germany and Italy most notablyDurer and Mantegna and by the time of his visit to France in 1524 he wasdetermined to secure a position as Court Painter. However Holbein soon foundhimself in a precarious situation as a result of the Reformations increasinghostility toward religious works and he left for England in 1532. While inEngland in addition to decorative schemes and Triumphs he both drew andpainted numerous unrivaled likenesses of leading courtiers merchants anddiplomats among which is his celebrated double portrait The Ambassadors.This book offers both a remarkable range of extant visualevidence and arewarding and scholarly account of Holbeins oeuvre in its full historical andartistic contexts. «