This life-sized double portrait features various symbols that tell of the lives of the subjects. Jean de Dinteville on the left, aged 29, was French ambassador to England. His friend, Georges de Selve, aged 25, was bishop of Lavaur. Between them, they represent the secular and the spiritual. Two globes, a sundial, an oriental carpet, a lute with a broken string, flutes, books in the background and a distorted skull in the foreground signify their lives and that death is never far away.
Regarded as one of the greatest portraitists of all time, Hans Holbein the Younger moved to England from Germany when he was in his 20s, effectively taking Renaissance art to Britain. The work he produced as the court artist for King Henry VIII is vivid evidence of the glamour and dangers of court life in Tudor England.
Son of the successful painter Hans Holbein the Elder, Holbein was born in Augsberg, Germany. He and his elder brother Ambrosius received professional training with their father in jewelry design, printmaking and painting. In 1516, the brothers traveled to Basel in Switzerland, where they entered the workshop of the foremost Swiss painter, Hans Herbster. Both brothers were gifted artists and in Basel they took on many small commissions for religious paintings and portraits, as well as book design and illustration. For two years from 1517, they lived and worked alongside their father in Lucerne, Switzerland, but after the premature death of Ambrosius in 1519, Hans returned to Basel. There he worked in a print and publishing workshop that was a meeting place for local intellectuals, and he made friends with the humanist scholar, Desiderius Erasmus.
Holbein soon earned a name for himself as a talented portraitist, painting the mayor of Basel and his wife and three portraits of the great Renaissance scholar Erasmus. But he did not restrict himself to portraiture and his output was extremely productive and varied, comprising murals, woodcuts (including illustrations of Martin Luther’s Old and New Testaments), religious works (including frescoes and panel paintings), altarpieces and designs for stained glass and jewelry. His observant, expressive, sharply detailed and tonal style earned him the reputation of leading artist in Basel and he was awarded citizenship of the town.
Despite this success, as the Protestant Reformation spread throughout northern Europe, Basel became a difficult place for an artist to work and earn money. In 1526, carrying a letter of introduction from Erasmus, Holbein went to London. He was made welcome by Sir Thomas More, King Henry VIII’s treasurer, and with his mix of northern and Italian Renaissance styles, rapidly established himself, proving himself to be an artist of remarkable skill. With his dexterous realism, he introduced the Renaissance to Britain and was soon accepted as the principal artist at the English court. As well as being employed by Henry VIII in a wide range of commissions, including designing court costumes, silverware, jewelry and triumphal arches, to painting portraits of Henry’s family, his future brides, queens and important members of his court, he was also commissioned to paint portraits of numerous courtiers, landowners and merchants.
Although he returned to Basel briefly, he was in Britain again in 1532. Employed as the King’s Painter on an annual salary of thirty pounds, he continued painting portraits of significant figures and then the King himself. A gifted draftsman, Holbein always made preparatory portraits of his sitters, and these were exact, precise and quickly rendered. Then he transferred each study to a panel using geometrical instruments, and creating the finished work with oil or tempera or a mixture of both. His work was unique and original, and his meticulous attention to detail, clear and lifelike representations, almost imperceptible brushstrokes and close observation made him immensely popular, not least for the symbolism that he integrated into his portraits.
Key Works
The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb 1521, KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL, BASEL, SWITZERLAND
Portrait of Erasmus 1523, MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE
Portrait of Georg Gisze of Danzig 1532, STAATLICHE MUSEEN ZU BERLIN, GEMÄLDEGALERIE, BERLIN, GERMANY
Portrait of Anne of Cleves c.1539, MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE
Portrait of Henry VIII 1540, GALLERIA NAZIONALE D’ARTE ANTICA, ROME, ITALY
BRONZINO
1503–1572 • MANNERISM
The Dead Christ between the Virgin and Mary Magdalene
c.1530 OIL ON PANEL
100 × 105 CM (39 × 41 IN)
GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE, ITALY
Filled with the three figures, this composition shows Bronzino’s confident handling of color, tone, drapery and textures. Strong light falls on the tragic group, highlighting the desolation. Although the story is unmistakable, the figures are remote and viewers can observe it with detachment.
With his crisp and stylized approach, Agnolo di Cosimo, known as Bronzino, spent much of his life as court painter to the powerful Medici family in Florence.
As a pupil and adopted son of the Mannerist painter Pontormo, Bronzino (whose nickname probably arose from his dark complexion) developed a style that was heavily indebted to his master, but more detached. He excelled at portrait painting more than religious works because he infused them with refinement, assurance and impartiality. His tapestry designs were also successful, thanks to his understanding of color and composition.
From 1539, when he was in his 30s, Bronzino began working for Duke Cosimo de’ Medici. He spent almost his entire career in his service, and became the leading painter in Florence. Mannerism absorbed the ideals of the High Renaissance but stylized it and Bronzino’s specific painting style influenced European court portraiture for a century. His elegant portraits of aristocratic figures seemed real but aloof, calm and flawless, with tightly controlled colouristic effects.
Bronzino’s style was cultivated from the later paintings of Michelangelo: composed and dignified, with elongated proportions subtly suffused with bright or deep colors and textural details, and cool, smooth, alabaster-like skin tones portrayed with assurance and sophistication. An exceptionally skillful draftsman, Bronzino conveyed the confidence and pride of his noble sitters, creating pearlescent skin and sumptuous clothes and jewelry—grandeur and perfection were favored over naturalism and imperfections. His religious and mythological paintings often feature elongated and contorted poses, inspired by Michelangelo and Raphael. Also a poet, Bronzino’s most subjective portraits are those of other literary figures, including Dante and Petrach. In 1563, he became a founder member of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno—the first academy of drawing in Europe.
Key Works
Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time 1540–5, NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK
Portrait of Bia de’ Medici c.1542, GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE, ITALY
Eleonora of Toledo 1544–5, GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE, ITALY
Portrait of a Man holding a Statuette 1550, MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE
Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence 1565–9, SAN LORENZO, FLORENCE, ITALY
TINTORETTO
1518–1594 • MANNERISM
The Last Supper
1590–1 OIL ON CANVAS
350 × 235 CM (137¾ × 92½ IN)
DUOMO DI SAN MARTINO, LUCCA, ITALY
Mannerist paintings frequently place the focus deep into the composition. Here Tintoretto has adhered to that concept, with Jesus at the end of a foreshortened table, surrounded by apostles and angels. The light, composition and dramatic perspective are striking and the colors spectacular.