This introduction to the work of the 16th-century master portraitist Hans Holbein the Younger reveals the impressive and surprising scope of his career

16th-century Europe was a time of unprecedented economic expansion, cross-cultural trade, religious upheaval, warring empires, and scientific advancement. With unfettered access to the court of Henry VIII, Hans Holbein had a front-row seat to the royal drama and intrigue, and his detailed, highly narrative portaits tell us much about aristocracy. This volume features dozens of full-page reproductions of Holbein's key works accompanied by extensive commentary that explores his masterful portraits of prominent European figures such as Thomas More, Erasmus, and Thomas Cromwell. It also reveals the artist's talent in other media, such as woodcuts, frescoes, jewelry, and metalwork. Reproductions of these items, as well as Holbein's exquisite, palm-sized miniatures and his highly detailed studies in pencil, chalk, and ink illuminate an artist of unparalleled versatility and impressive commercial acumen.

About the Author:

Florian Heine is an arts editor, photographer, and author whose many books include 50 Contemporary Photographers You Should Know, Buildings that Revolutionized Architecture, Photography: The Groundbreaking Moments, and The Art of Illusion (all by Prestel).

Religion, Renaissance, and Reformation — these three ideologies shaped the world of 16th-century portraitist Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98–1543), a pivotal figure of the Northern Renaissance, whose skills took him to Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, and England, and garnered patrons and subjects as prestigious as Henry VIII, Thomas More, Anne of Cleves, and Reformation advocate Thomas Cromwell. This book brings together key Holbein paintings to explore his illustrious and international career as well as the courtly drama and radical religious change that informed his work. With rich illustration, we survey the masterful draftsmanship and almost supernatural ability to control details, from the textures of luxurious clothing to the ornament of a room, that secured Holbein’s place as one of the greatest portraitists in Western art history.

His probing eye was matched with a draftsman. Along the way, we see how he combined meticulous mimesis with an inspired amalgam of regional painterly traits, from Flemish-style realism to late medieval German composition and Italian formal grandeur.

During his time in England, Holbein became official court painter to Henry VIII, producing both reformist propaganda and royalist paintings to bolster Henry’s status as monarch and as the new Supreme Head of the Church following the English Reformation. His portrait of Henry from 1537 is regarded not only as a portraiture pinnacle but also as an iconic record of this transformative monarch and the Tudor dynasty. Through this turbulent period, Holbein also produced anticlerical woodcuts and sketched and painted Lutheran merchants, visiting ambassadors, and Henry’s notorious succession of wives.

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

One of the greatest artists of sixteenth-century Europe, Hans Holbein the younger earned high acclaim for his work both in the city of Basel and in England for Henry VIII and other patrons. This book is the first to explore the full range of the artist’s English body of work as well as the relation of this work to the visual and material culture of Tudor England. Providing a detailed account of the paintings, drawings, and woodcuts that Holbein produced in England, the book demonstrates convincingly that that country was not as remote from a common European culture as is often assumed. Rather, it was an unmistakable part of that culture.

Susan Foister discusses not only Holbein's well-known portraits but also his decorative paintings and murals, now lost, his designs for goldsmiths, and the works that can be associated with the English Reformation. In addition, she considers Holbein's religious and secular images, his techniques and practices, his status as an official court painter, and a variety of other intriguing topics.

Die Graue Passion gilt als ein Hauptwerk von Hans Holbein d. Ä. (um 1465–1524) und als eine der ungewöhnlichsten Passionsfolgen der altdeutschen Kunst. Schon der Name des zwischen 1494 und 1500 entstandenen Zyklus weist auf die farbliche Gestaltung der Bildfolge hin. Ihr kommt innerhalb der europäischen Malerei eine einzigartige Stellung zu. Der vermutlich in Augsburg geborene Künstler zählt neben Martin Schongauer und Albrecht Dürer zu den bedeutendsten deutschen Malern seiner Zeit. Mit seiner Kunst steht Hans Holbein d. Ä. zwischen den Epochen, am Übergang von der Spätgotik zur Renaissance. Die Publikation verdeutlicht die künstlerische Herkunft und Wirkung der Grauen Passion durch eine exemplarische Werkauswahl der Vorgänger und Zeitgenossen Holbeins. Eine eingehende Dokumentation gibt Einblicke in die aufwendigen Restaurierungsarbeiten, die an den zwölf Bildtafeln vorgenommen wurden.

The “Gray Passion” is one of Hans Holbein the Elder’s great masterpieces, as well as one of the most unusual passion cycles in German art. Painted between 1494 and 1500, the cycle’s title refers to its color scheme. This set of panels occupies a unique position within European painting. Holbein, who was probably born in Augsburg around 1465, was one of the most important painters of his time, in a class with Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer. His art places him between eras, on the threshold between Late Gothic and the Renaissance. Thanks to the inclusion of an exemplary selection of works by Holbein’s predecessors and contemporaries, this publication sheds light on the artistic background and impact of the “Gray Passion.” Thorough documentation provides insight into the elaborate restoration of the cycle’s twelve panels.

The Northern Renaissance in Europe was a period of rapid social and religious change. This is reflected in much of the art of the period, which is further characterised by a fascinating range of subject-matter, superb technical skill and an interest in capturing likeness with almost psychological precision. The same period also saw a great rise in the importance of works on paper, especially prints. This book discusses works by Albrecht Dürer and Hans Holbein two of the greatest masters of the Northern Renaissance together with a selection of paintings by Lucas Cranach. Encompassing portraiture, religion, mythology and allegory, these works are examined alongside others by such masters as Francois Clouet, Jan Gossaert and Joos van Cleve. Holbeins superlative drawings of members of the court of King Henry VIII can be seen side-by-side with finished paintings and miniatures of the same sitters; and this rich survey also includes illuminated manuscripts and early printed books.