a tanner's widow
Art Neuendorffer
Hans HOLBEIN the Younger married a tanner's widow
Not one note or letter from his own hand survives.
(b. 1497, Augsburg, d. 1543, London)
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/bio/h/holbein/hans_y/biograph.html
<<German painter, draftsman, and designer renowned for the precise
rendering of his drawings and the compelling realism of his portraits,
particularly those recording the court of King Henry VIII of England.
Holbein was a member of a family of important artists. His father,
Hans Holbein the Elder, and his uncle Sigmund were renowned for their
somewhat conservative examples of late Gothic painting in Germany. One
of Holbein's brothers, Ambrosius, became a painter as well, but he
apparently died about 1519 before reaching maturity as an artist. The
Holbein brothers no doubt first studied with their father in Augsburg;
they both also began independent work about 1515 in Basle, Switz.
It should be noted that this chronology places Holbein firmly
in the second generation of 16th-century German artists.
Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald, and Lucas Cranach the Elder
all were born between 1470 and 1480 and were producing their mature
masterpieces by the time Holbein was just beginning his career. Holbein
is, in fact, the only truly outstanding German artist of his generation.
Holbein's work in Basle during the decade of 1515-25 was extremely
varied, if also sometimes derivative. Trips to northern Italy (c. 1517)
and France (1524) certainly affected the development of his religious
subjects and portraiture, respectively. Holbein entered the painters'
corporation in 1519, married a tanner's widow, and became a burgher of
Basle in 1520. By 1521 he was executing important mural decorations in
the Great Council Chamber of Basle's town hall. Unfortunately, none of
Holbein's many great frescoes executed here and in England & Germany
have survived intact. Their beauty must be judged, instead, from
his sketches and copies of the frescoes made by later artists.
Holbein was associated early on with the Basle publishers and their
humanist circle of acquaintances. There he found portrait commissions
such as that of the humanist scholar Bonifacius Amerbach (1519;
Kunstmuseum, Basle). In this and other early portraits Holbein showed
himself a master of the current German portrait idiom, using robust
characterization & accessories, strong gaze, and dramatic silhouette.
In Basle, Holbein was also active in designing woodcuts for title pages
and book illustrations. He increased his reputation as a book
illustrator by a series of woodcuts for the German translation of the
Bible by Martin Luther. The artist's most famous work in this area, a
series of 41 scenes illustrating the medieval allegorical concept of the
Dance of Death, was designed by him and cut by another artist as early
as about 1523 to 1526 but was not published until 1538. Its scenes
display an immaculate sense of order, packing much information about
the lifestyles & habits of Death's victims into a very small format.>>
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/h/holbein/hans_y/2drawing/woodcuts/index.html
<<Before 1526 Holbein had produced a series of woodcuts illustrating the
Dance of Death. Holbein's ironic tone throughout the series contrasts
sharply with contemporary, more expressionist treatments of the subject.
Death appears as a mocker, attacking every class of humanity and - as he
snatches the Emperor's crown during the distribution of Justice, and
fixes around the countess's neck a chain of bones while she makes a
lavish toilet - reveals the futility of worldly power and concerns.
The series is remarkable for its variety and for the precision
of Holbein's feeling for different social types.>>
Holbein completed also a series of pen-and-ink sketches for
The Praise of Folie by the Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus.
In portraiture, too, Holbein's minute sense of observation
was evident. His first major portrait of Desiderius Erasmus
(1523; Louvre, Paris) portrays the Dutch humanist
scholar as physically withdrawn from the world, sitting at his desk
engaged in his voluminous European correspondence; his hands
are as sensitively rendered as his carefully controlled profile.
Protestantism, which had been introduced into Basle as early as
1522, grew considerably in strength and importance there during the
ensuing four years. By 1526 severe iconoclastic riots and strict
censorship of the press swept over the city. In the face of what,
for the moment at least, amounted to a freezing of the arts,
Holbein left Basle late in 1526, with a letter of introduction
from Erasmus, to travel by way of the Netherlands to England.
Though only about 28 years old, he would achieve remarkable success
in England. His most impressive works of this time were executed
for the statesman and author Sir Thomas More and included
a magnificent single portrait of the humanist (1527;
Frick Collection, New York City). In this image, the painter's
close observation extends to the tiny stubble of More's beard,
the iridescent glow of his velvet sleeves, and the abstract
decorative effects of the gold chain that he wears. Holbein
also completed a life-size group portrait of More's family;
this work is now lost, though its appearance is preserved
in copies and in preparatory drawing in the Kunstmuseum, Basle.
This painting was the first example in northern European art
of a large group portrait in which the figures are
not shown kneeling - the effect of which is to suggest
the individuality of the sitters rather than impiety.
Before Holbein journeyed to England in 1526, he had apparently
designed works that were both pro- and anti-Lutheran in character. On
returning to Basle in 1528, he was admitted, after some hesitation, to
the new - and now official - faith. It would be difficult to interpret
this as a very decisive change, for Holbein's most impressive
religious works, like his portraits, are brilliant observations
of physical reality but seem never to have been inspired
by Christian spirituality. This is evident in both the claustrophobic,
rotting body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb (1521; Kunstmuseum, Basle)
and in the beautifully composed Family of Burgomaster Meyer
Adoring the Virgin (1526; Schlossmuseum, Darmstadt).
In this latter painting Holbein skillfully combined a late
medieval German compositional format with precise Flemish
realism and a monumental Italian treatment of form.
Holbein apparently quite voluntarily gave up
almost all religious painting after about 1530.
In Basle, from 1528 to 1532, Holbein continued his important
work for the town council. He also painted what is perhaps his only
psychologically penetrating portrait, that of his wife & two sons
(c. 1528; Kunstmuseum, Basle). This picture no doubt conveys
some of the unhappiness of that abandoned family.
In spite of generous offers from Basle, Holbein left his
wife & children in that city for a second time, to spend
the last 11 years of his life primarily in England.
By 1533 Holbein was already painting court personalities.
His portrait of the statesman Thomas Cromwell brought the artist
recognition at court, and by 1536 he was established as court
painter to Henry VIII of England. It is estimated that during
the last 10 years of his life Holbein executed approximately 150
portraits, life-size and miniature, of royalty and nobility alike.
These portraits ranged from a magnificent series depicting German
merchants who were working in London to a double portrait
of the French ambassadors to Henry VIII's court (1533;
National Gallery, London) to portraits of the king himself
(1536; Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid) and his
different wives, Jane Seymour (1536; Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna) and Anne of Cleves (Louvre, Paris). In these and other
examples, the artist revealed his fascination with plant, animal,
and decorative accessories. Holbein's preliminary drawings of
his sitters contain detailed notations concerning jewelry and
other costume decorations as well. Sometimes such objects point
to specific events or concerns in the sitter's life, or act as
attributes referring to a sitter's occupation or character.
The relation between accessories and face is a charged
and stimulating one, avoiding simple correspondence.
In an analogous fashion, Holbein's mature portraits present an
intriguing play between surface & depth. The sitter's outlines
and position within the frame are carefully calculated, while
inscriptions applied on the surface in gold leaf lock the
sitter's head into place. Juxtaposed with this finely tuned
two-dimensional design are illusionistic miracles of velvet, fur,
feathers, needleworks, and leather. Holbein acted not only as a
portraitist but also as a fashion designer for the court. The artist
made designs for all the state robes of the king; he left, in
addition, more than 250 delicate drawings for everything from
buttons and buckles to pageant weapons, horse outfittings,
and bookbindings for the royal household. This choice of work
indicates Holbein's Mannerist concentration on surface texture
and detail of design, a concern that in some ways precluded the
incorporation of great psychological depth in his portraits.
Holbein died in a London plague epidemic in 1543.
Holbein was one of the greatest portraitists and most exquisite
draftsmen of all time. It is the artist's record of the court of
King Henry VIII of England, as well as the taste that he virtually
imposed upon that court, that was his most remarkable achievement.
The fact that Holbein's portraits do not reveal the character or
spiritual inclinations of his sitters is perfectly paralleled by
knowledge of the artist's life. His biography is basically a
recounting of disparate facts; about his personality practically
nothing is known. Not one note or letter from his own hand survives.
Other men's opinions of him are often equally inscrutable. Erasmus,
one of Holbein's most renowned sitters, praised & recommended him
on one occasion but scorned the artist as opportunistic
at another time. Indeed, Henry VIII, who sent Holbein to
the European continent to help select a bride by providing a
dependable portrait for his scrutiny, was perhaps the only
person who had absolute confidence in Holbein.
The artist's detachment and his refusal to submit to an authority
that might inhibit his own creative (but very worldly) powers
enabled him to produce paintings whose beauty & brilliance
have never been questioned. Had he been a more devout Christian
or more subject to the turmoil of his times, his artistic
achievement might have been quite different. In recent times,
the lack of spiritual involvement in his work has been
consistently noted, especially inasmuch as the 16th century
was a time when few artists managed to remain above
the religious conflict sweeping Europe. Thus, the effect
of Holbein's art has often been felt to be more artistic
& external than expressionistic or emotional.>>
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/holbein/
Hans Holbein the Elder (1465?-1524). Born in Augsburg, Bavaria,
the elder Holbein, like his brother Sigmund, painted richly colored
religious works in the late Gothic style. In addition to the altar
paintings that are his principal works, he designed church windows
and also made a number of portrait drawings that foreshadow the work
of his famous son. His later paintings show the transition from the
late Gothic to the Renaissance style. He died in Isenheim, Alsace.
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543). Born in Augsburg, Bavaria, Hans
received his first lessons in art from his father. In 1515 the
younger Holbein went to Basel, Switzerland, with his brother, Ambrosius.
Among the many scholars living in Basel at that time was the
famous Dutch humanist Erasmus, who befriended the young artist and
asked him to illustrate his satire, Encomium Moriae (The Praise of
Folly). Holbein also illustrated other books, including Martin Luther's
German translation of the Bible. In addition he painted pictures and
portraits and, like his father, designed stained-glass windows.
He also created designs for a series of 41 woodcuts
called The Dance of Death.
About 1525 the factional strife that accompanied the Reformation
made Basel a difficult place for an artist to work. In 1526 Holbein,
carrying a letter of introduction from Erasmus to the English statesman
and author Sir Thomas More, set out for London. He met with a favorable
reception in England and stayed there for two years. In 1528 he returned
to Basel, where he painted portraits and murals for the town hall. In
1532 he left his wife & children there & traveled once again to London.
In England, where he became court painter to Henry VIII, Holbein
was known chiefly as a painter of portraits. His services were
much in demand. The more than 100 miniature & full-size portraits
he completed at Henry's court provide a remarkable document of that
colorful period. An old account of his services at court relates that
he painted the portrait of the king, "life size, so well that everyone
who looks is astonished, since it seems to live as if it moved
its head and limbs." In spite of their richness of detail,
Holbein's portraits provide remarkably little insight into
the personality and character of the people he painted.
Holbein also found time to perform numerous services for Henry.
He designed the king's state robes and made drawings that were the
basis of all kinds of items used by the royal household, from buttons
to bridles to bookbindings. In 1539, when Henry was thinking of
marrying Anne of Cleves, he sent Holbein to paint her portrait.
In 1543 Holbein was in London working on another portrait
of the king when he died, a victim of the plague.>>
--------------------------------------------------
His most remarkable work was a large group portrait of
Sir Thomas More's family, which has since been destroyed.
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/h/holbein/hans_y/2drawing/1530/11family.html
Study for the Family Portrait of Sir Thomas More c. 1527
Pen and brush in black on top of chalk sketch, 38,9 x 52,4 cm
Kupferstichkabinett, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basle
<<This is a preparatory study for the lost group portrait of the More
family. The astronomer Nikolaus Kratzer (1487-1550), who taught in the
More household, has noted in Latin besides the figures their names
& ages. On the left is Elizabeth Dauncy (1506-1564), Thomas More's
youngest daughter, while beside her is the adopted daughter Margaret
Giggs (1508-1570) explaining a point of text to old Sir John More (c.
1451-1530). Thomas More sits grandly in the centre, with (left and right
of him) the engaged couple Anne Cresacre (1512-1577) and young John More
(c. 1509-1547), Thomas More's only son. Beside John More, and looking
directly out of the picture, is the household fool, Henry Patenson.
On the right of the picture are Cecily Heron, born 1507, and his
eldest daughter, Margaret Roper, (1505-1544); his second wife,
Lady Alice, who is More's second daughter, kneeling at
a prie-dieu, rounds off the picture on the right.>>
--------------------------------------------------
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/h/holbein/hans_y/1518/index.html
<<Part of a painter's training in the Late Middle Ages was a period of
apprenticeship. Hans Holbein completed his in Basle, when, towards the
end of 1515, he and his brother Ambrosius probably entered the workshop
of Hans Herbst. As his work is largely unknown, we have no idea how far
Master Herbst influenced Holbein. However, the importance of being in
the university city of Basle should not be underestimated: a large
number of humanistically educated people lived there, chief of
whom was Erasmus of Rotterdam, who had moved there in 1514.
Holbein's first works to come down to us intact are drawings,
dating from December 1515, on the margin of Erasmus's Latin text
Encomium moriae (The Praise of Folly).
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/h/holbein/hans_y/2drawing/1530/01folly2.html
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/h/holbein/hans_y/2drawing/1530/01folly1.html
<<In this introductory margin drawing in Myconius's copy of Erasmus's
The Praise of Folly (fol. B, 40), Holbein presents Folly as a young
woman wearing a fashionable dress with slit sleeves, preaching with
eloquent gestures from a pulpit. Like the speaker, the congregation, who
have made themselves comfortable in front of the pulpit, wear jester's
caps. Thus Holbein (following Erasmus) makes clear that the listeners
are themselves fools, as Folly will show with wit and irony in the
course of her speech. In this edition of 1515, Johannes Froben prints
Erasmus's text with Gerhard Lister's commentary on it in small type.>>
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/h/holbein/hans_y/1525/index.html
<<By the time Holbein became a master of the "Zum Himmel" painters'
guild of Basle on September 25, 1519, he had already proved his skills
in numerous artistic techniques: his fame as a panel painter and
draftsman would certainly have been a great asset; in Lucerne
he had acquired experience in painting murals; and, like his
brother Ambrosius, he was a skilled designer of woodcuts, a facet
of his creativity in which Holbein was to be highly productive,
especially in the following years in Basle. By marrying
Elsbeth Binzenstock (died 1549), the widow of a tanner, Holbein
became an established figure, and as husband of a Basle woman he
obtained, on July 3, 1520, the status of burgher free of charge.
The Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach is a simple & striking portrait.
The Dead Christ of 1521 is unimaginable without the example of
Grünewald, yet nowhere is Holbein's capacity for detached and
merciless observation more apparent. Almost contemporaneously
with The Dead Christ, Holbein painted a work whose content
is diametrically opposed to the picture of death:
the Solothurn Madonna.
In 1524 during his visit to France Holbein first encountered
Leonardo's art. Leonardo's influence is clearly evident
in Holbein's Last Supper and Lais of Corinth.>>
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/h/holbein/hans_y/1535/index.html
Paintings in England (1532-35) by Hans HOLBEIN the Younger
<<By 1532 Holbein seems to have realized that there was little
possibility of finding a fruitful source of patronage in Basle, and
he returned to England. The England of 1532 was dramatically
different from that of 1528. Holbein fled from the Reformation in
Basle to find England on the edge of a revolution. Almost all
Holbein's earlier patrons became involved in the disturbances,
some of them were died or were imprisoned. It was imperative that
Holbein should find new sources of patronage, and between 1532
& 1536 most of Holbein's patrons were members of a trading community
in London, merchants of the German Steelyard. His commissions
were mostly for small half-length portraits, in which the sitter
is shown in his office, often with his accessories of work
scattered about, and holding a letter bearing his name and address.
Examples are the portraits of Georg Gisze, Derich Born,
a member of the Wedigh Family, Dirk Tybis & Robert Chaseman.
A very different work from this period, The Ambassadors of 1533,
also showed foreigners in England. This ambitious painting is a
life-size double portrait of Jean de Dinteville, French Ambassador
to London, and Georges de Selve, the Bishop of Lavaur.
The portrait of Jean de Dinteville's successor, as ambassador
to the English court, Charles de Solier, Lord of Morette, shows
a comparable richness and amplitude. The Unknown Gentleman
with Music Books and Lute is also shown against a curtain;
its folds add visual interest to the background.
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/h/holbein/hans_y/1535a/1ambassa.html
Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve (`The Ambassadors')
<<This huge panel is one of the earliest portraits combining
two full-length figures on the scale of life. A paean to
two scholar-diplomats and to the artist's virtuosity,
it is on closer examination a reminder also of the
brevity of life and of the vanity of human accomplishments.
While life is short, Holbein seems to say,
art is long-lasting - but eternity endures for ever.
On our left stands Jean de Dinteville, a French nobleman posted
to London as ambassador. The globe on the bottom shelf shows Polisy,
where he had his château; the ornate sheath of the dagger
in his right hand gives his age as 29. To his left stands his
friend and fellow-countryman, Georges de Selve, whose visit to
London in 1533 is commemorated here. A brilliant classical scholar,
he had some years earlier been created Bishop of Lavaur.
He leans his elbow on a book inscribed with his age: 25.
In their attire, their poses and their bearing the two friends
exemplify, respectively, the active and the contemplative life,
which, together, complement each other.
On the what-not between them Holbein has depicted the wide range
of their interests - a compendium of the culture of the age. On the
top shelf, the minutely rendered `Turkey' carpet bears a celestial
globe and an array of astronomical & navigational instruments.
The cylindrical dial gives the date as 11 April; the polyhedral
dial on the right indicates two different times of day.
In front of the terrestrial globe on the lower shelf lies
a German text-book of Arithmetic for Merchants, propped open
with a T-square. A lute and a case of recorders or flutes demonstrate
both Holbein's mastery of foreshortening and the sitters' musical
interests. But a string of the lute has snapped, a traditional
emblem of fragility. Just visible in the top left corner, at the
edge of the magnificently patterned green hanging, is a crucifix.
The hymnal in front of the lute is open at Martin Luther's hymn,
'Come Holy Ghost our souls inspire'. Christian faith offers
hope of eternal life when dust returns to dust.
Across the mosaic floor - derived from the medieval pavement in
Westminster Abbey - there spreads a curious shape between the two
friends. It is a skull, skilfully distorted so that its true form
can only be perceived from the correct viewpoint at the edges
of the panel. The painting may have been intended to hang over a
staircase so that viewers might see it when ascending or descending.
Possibly referring to a personal device of Jean de Dinteville,
whose cap medallion bears a skull, it is also the quintessential
memento mori, reminder of mortality. In Holbein's meticulously
real-seeming picture, the distortion also functions as a signal
that reality, as perceived by the senses, must be viewed
`correctly' to reveal its full meaning. A frontal nod of
recognition at the worldly semblance of things is not enough.>>
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/h/holbein/hans_y/1535a/index.html
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the Sun's transit of the cardinal points-originally:
March 25, June 24, September 24 and December 25
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September 24, 1493, Columbus' 2nd expedition to New World
[Venus in conjunction with Spica.]
September 24, 1501, Girolamo Cardano born (mathematician/physician)
[Venus in conjunction with Spica.]
Cardano predicts he will live to the age of 75
[but he commits suicide 3 days early.]
September 24, 1517, Hans Holbein's in Lucerne
September 25, 1519, Holbein became a master of the "Zum Himmel"
painters' guild of Basle
September 24, 1848, Branwell Bronte dies STANDING UP.
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Walburga, OSB Abbess
(also known as Bugga, Gaudurge, Vaubourg, Walpurga, Walpurgis)
http://207.172.3.91/saintpat/ss/0225.htm
Born in Devonshire, Wessex, England, 710 AD;
died at Heidenheim, Swabia, Germany, February 25, 779;
feasts of her translation:
May 1, 870 (translation to Eichstatt)
October 12, (Columbus Day) and
SEPTEMBER 24, 893 (translation to ZUTPHEN
- scene of Sidney's Sept.22, 1586 wounding).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
http://netgeist.com/Dr_Seuss/Death.htm
_Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel_ confirms that Geisel died "at about 10:00 p.m.
on September 24, 1991," and "on that day his body was cremated."
In accordance with Geisel's supposed final wishes, there was
no funeral and there is no grave or physical memorial.>>
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Twelfth Night Act 4, Scene 2
Clown: Bonos dies, Sir Toby: for, as the old hermit of PRAGUE,
that NEVER SAW PEN AND INK, very wittily
said to a niece of King Gorboduc, 'That that is is;'
<<NEVER SAW PEN AND INK: refers to an episode which occurred
in the conference" of September 24, 1581,
in which CAMPION was opposed by one Master FULKE:
"If you dare, let me show you Augustine and Chrysostom,"
he [CAMPION] cried at one moment, "if you dare."
Fulke: "Whatever you can bring, I have answered already in writing
against others of your side. And yet if you think you can add
anything, put it in writing and I will answer it."
CAMPION: "Provide me with ink and paper and I will write."
Fulke: "I am not to provide you ink and paper."
In this exchange, we see that CAMPION, having been deprived of the
means of preparing a defense, such as access to books containing the
teachings of St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom, seizes upon
Fulke's apparent offer of writing materials. Fulke immediately
realizes that the has made a tactical error, for the government's
plan in no way involves providing CAMPION with the means to
write, since much of CAMPION's success lay in his writings.>> -
http://www.folger.edu/institute/sacred/manuscript.html
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Art Neuendorffer