Holbein and England

One of the greatest artists of sixteenth-century Europe, Han 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 scope of the artist's work in England, as well as the relationship of this work to the visual and material culture of Tudor England. Drawing on a wide array of documentary sources to analyse the range of images that would have been familiar to the courtiers who patronized Holbein, the book demonstrates convincingly that England was not as remote from a common European culture as is often assumed. Rather, it was an unmistakable part of that culture.
Best known today as a portraitist, Holbein's achievements in fact cover a broader range. Susan Foister discusses in full his decorative paintings and murals, now lost, his designs for goldsmiths, and works that can be associated with the English Reformation. She also provides a detailed account of Holbein's artistic techniques and practices, and his status as a court painter. Finally, she sets Holbein's portraits in their contemporary context, examining his vivid likenesses of men and women from the Tudor court, as well as of Henry VIII and his queens.

Susan Foister is Director of Collections and Curator of Early Netherlandish, German and British Painting at the National Gallery, London.