b. 1497, Augsburg, d. 1543, London was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century.[2] He also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made 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 worked mainly in Basel as a young artist. At first he painted murals and religious works and designed for stained glass windows and printed books. He also painted the occasional portrait, making his international mark with portraits of the humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam. When the Reformation reached Basel, Holbein worked for reformist clients while continuing to serve traditional religious patrons. His Late Gothic style was enriched by artistic trends in Italy, France, and the Netherlands, as well as by Renaissance Humanism. The result was a combined aesthetic uniquely his own. Holbein travelled to England in 1526 in search of work, with a recommendation from Erasmus. He was welcomed into the humanist circle of Thomas More, where he quickly built a high reputation. After returning to Basel for four years, he resumed his career in England in 1532. This time he worked for the twin founts of patronage, Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell. By 1535, he was King's Painter to King Henry VIII. In this role, he produced not only portraits and festive decorations but designs for jewellery, plate, and other precious objects. His portraits of the royal family and nobles are a vivid record of a brilliant court in the momentous years when Henry was asserting his supremacy over the English church. Holbein's art was prized from early in his career. The French poet and reformer Nicholas Bourbon dubbed him "the Apelles of our time".[3] Holbein has also been described as a great "one-off" of art history, since he founded no school.[4] After his death, some of his work was lost, but much was collected, and by the 19th century, Holbein was recognised among the great portrait masters. Recent exhibitions have also highlighted his versatility.   Related Paintings of Hans holbein the younger :. | Portrait of a Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling | Noli me tangere | Christina of Denmark,Duchess of Milan | Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam | Prince of Wales |
Related Artists:
Laurits Andersen Ring
Danish, 1854-1933 Laurits Andersen Ring (1854-1933) was one of the foremost painters of Danish symbolism. He was born as Laurits Andersen in the village Ring in southern Zealand. In 1881 he the took the name of his birth place, and was since known as L.A. Ring. For a while, he lived at Baldersbronde near Hedehusene in the old school building, which was later to be the home of another painter, Ludvig Find. Ring has produced several paintings from these towns. As a painter, he never distanced himself from his humble origin, but rather made it his dominant theme. Most of his paintings depict the village life and landscapes of southern Zealand from Præsto to Nestved. There are several examples of his work at practically every Danish art museum including the Hirschsprung Collection in Copenhagen. He was married on July 25, 1896 to fellow painter Sigrid Kahler, who was the daughter of ceramic artist Herman Kahler.
Ercole de Roberti
Ferrara ca 1451/56-1496 was an Italian artist of the Early Renaissance and the School of Ferrara. He was profiled in Vasari's Le Vite delle pi?? eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori. The son of the doorkeeper at the Este castle, Ercole later held the position of court artist for the Este family in Ferrara. According to Vasari: Ercole had an extraordinary love of wine, and his frequent drunkenness did much to shorten his life, which he had enjoyed without any accident up to the age of forty, when he was smitten one day by apoplexy, which made an end of him in a short time. Paintings by Ercole are rare.
George Gower
1540-1596 English George Gower Gallery Little is known about his early life except that he was a grandson of Sir John Gower of Stettenham, Yorkshire. His earliest documented works are the two 1573 companion portraits of Sir Thomas Kytson and his wife Lady Kytson, now in the Tate Gallery in London. Gower painted a self-portrait in 1579 (right) that shows his coat of arms and his artist's tools of his trade. An allegorical device shows a balance with an artist's dividers outweighing the family coat of arms, "a startling claim in England where a painter was still viewed as little more than an artisan." The Armada portrait of Elizabeth I by George Gower c. 1588Gower was appointed to the position of Serjeant Painter to Queen Elizabeth in 1581. This allowed him to paint most of England??s aristocracy. The post also made him responsible for painted decoration at the royal residences, and on coaches and furniture. Among his works were a fountain (now destroyed) and the astronomical clock, both at Hampton Court Palace. He also inspected portraits of the Queen by other artists prior to their official release. Gower's best-known work is the version of the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth now at Woburn Abbey, painted to commemorate the 1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada. (A cut down version of this painting in the National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom) is attributed to Gower; the "Drake" version is by a different hand.)