Hans Holbein the Younger

Hans Holbein the Younger was one of the finest portrait painters who ever lived. His faces are drawn with great precision, set against plain blue or green backgrounds, with every fur trim, ring and document painted crisply.

He was born in Augsburg, the son of the painter Hans Holbein the Elder, and made his early career in Basel, where he painted Erasmus. In 1526 he went to England with an introduction to Thomas More, and from 1535 he was King’s Painter to Henry VIII. His best known works include The Ambassadors (1533) in the National Gallery, London, and the image of Henry VIII that still defines the king. He died in London in 1543.

His portraits of German merchants in London, such as Derich Born, show his skill with a single sitter: steady gaze, sharp detail, nothing wasted.