Skip to content
Search
English
PUNTART

The stories, symbols and history behind great art

Image not reproduced

Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors, 1533. The National Gallery, London.

The Ambassadors

Artist
Hans Holbein the Younger
Date
1533
Medium
Oil on oak panel
Dimensions
207 × 209.5 cm
Location
The National Gallery, London, LondonInventory no. NG1314

Also available in Deutsch, Español, Türkçe

Double portrait of Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve, painted in London in 1533 by Hans Holbein the Younger. Between them stand scientific instruments and books; an anamorphic skull crosses the floor and a small crucifix is half hidden behind the curtain.

Historical context

Holbein painted the work in 1533 in oil on oak. It shows Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve and has been in the National Gallery, London, since 1890.1

Interpretation

The objects on the shelves contrast the study of the heavens with earthly knowledge, while the skull, readable only from the side, adds a reminder of death.1

Symbols and meanings

The anamorphic skullEstablished fact
A distorted skull that can only be seen correctly from the lower right of the painting.Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors (NG1314)
The broken lute stringInterpretation
Often read as a sign of discord, perhaps religious.Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors (NG1314)
The crucifixEstablished fact
Half hidden behind the green curtain at the top left.Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors (NG1314)

Sources

  1. 1Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors (NG1314). The National Gallery, London

Related articles

Video essays