The stories, symbols and history behind great art
c. 1497–1543
German painter (c. 1497–1543) born in Augsburg, who worked in Basel and in England. He became court painter to Henry VIII and is known for precise portraits such as The Ambassadors.
Holbein was born in Augsburg around 1497 and moved to Basel around 1515. In 1523 he painted the humanist Erasmus.1
He went to England in 1526 and, by 1536, was in the service of Henry VIII. He died in London in 1543.1
1 min read
Everyone notices the stretched skull at the feet of Holbein's two ambassadors. Fewer notice the small crucifix half hidden behind the curtain, or what the objects on the shelves are telling us.
