The Hold of Holbein

Back in February, The New Yorker had a review of an exhibit at the Morgan Library in New York.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/02/28/review-holbein-capturing-character-morgan-library-museum

Hans Holbein the Younger’s work is stunning, being vastly superior to his father’s art. The quality and immediate visual appeal of Holbein’s paintings wouldn’t be equaled until Vermeer a hundred years later. While displaying the same level of technical skill as Jan Van Eyck in painting decorative clothing and objects, Holbein’s superb drawing ability was a complete break with long-standing medieval artistic conventions. Offering a level of realism never seen before, Holbein was, in a word, modern. If Holbein’s portraits are secular Realism, Michelangelo’s paintings are religious Mannerism.

I have beheld Holbein’s portraits of Thomas More and his nemesis Cromwell at the Frick Gallery. The painting of More was an obvious labor of love compared to the spare and cold portrayal of Cromwell, making it quite plain which of the two men he favored. Cromwell proved that anyone who believes they can ally themselves politically with a madman, and survive unscathed, is dead wrong. If you have an interest in Holbein, and can spare an hour, this history is very worthwhile viewing. (Two completely different meanings of the word “spare” used in the same paragraph! That’s what I call blogging at its best.)

There’s a woman in the cartoon^* above whose pose is strikingly similar to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Lady With An Ermine. The way her hands are placed, she could be holding an ermine herself. Even the head covering and bead necklace echo those worn by Da Vinci’s woman.

Da Vinci probably painted the portrait about five years before Holbein was born. Was Holbein merely fashioning the drawing in the popular manner of the day? Or had he seen Da Vinci’s portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, or a copy of it, and was offering a sly nod to the Italian master? While unknown, it’s believed that Holbein may have visited Italy. Da Vinci died when Holbein the Younger was about twenty.

^* “Cartoon” in its original meaning is a preliminary drawing for a painting.