Hans Holbein: Portrait of an Unknown Man

by Derek Wilson

One of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, Hans Holbein the Younger was also a complex and fascinating man who knew Erasmus, Thomas More, Henry VIII and many of the sixteenth century's wielders of power and influence. He developed his own distinctive attitudes towards religion, politics and social life as he moved among stalwart burghers, merchant adventurers and the bejewelled denizens of a glittering court.

The Elizabethan artist Nicolas Hilliard recognised him as 'the greatest Master in [portraiture] that ever was'. Yet the range of Holbein's talent went far beyond painting likenesses. He was constantly in demand for trompe-l'oeil murals and intricate jewellery designs, and he revolutionized book illustration. He produced Catholic altarpieces and Protestant propaganda engravings, woodcuts and drawings depicting the stories of the bible.

In this fascinating biography, acclaimed historian Derek Wilson gives a fresh account of Holbein's motives and paintings, suggesting that they included coded signals and propaganda about political figures of the time. Hans Holbein: Portrait of an Unknown Man is a controversial reinterpretation which presents the artist as a man inextricably bound up in the stirring events of a creative and turbulent age.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Art, Renaissance

308 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1997

About the author

Derek Wilson has been a writer of historical fiction and non-fiction for 50 years. His much acclaimed prize-winning works have largely centred on 16th and 17th century Europe. He has used various pen names for his fiction, his current Thomas Treviot Tudor crime series being written under the name D.K. Wilson. The first 2 books in this series - The First Horseman and The Traitor's Mark are based on real unsolved Tudor mysteries and have received enthusiastic plaudits. Readers have favourably compared this innovative series with the books of C.J. Sansom and S.J. Parris.
Recent non-fiction triumphs include The Plantagenets, Holbein: Portrait of an Unknown Man, and Charlemagne: a Biography.
Derek Wilson graduated from Cambridge and spent several years travelling and teaching in Africa before becoming a full-time writer and broadcaster in 1971. He has frequently written and appeared on radio and television and is popular as a public speaker having appeared at several literary festivals,British Museum, Hampton Court Palace, The British Library and other prestigious venues.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot of good information about Holbein in here, and biographies of Holbein are scarce. Unfortunately I found the prose nearly unbearable. I knew in the first chapter when he used "colporteurs" and "politiques" in the same sentence that it was going to be a slog. The author was constantly trumpeting his own erudition. He frequently employed what he must have felt were witty analogies that I simply found annoying. He does a fine job establishing the complex political, social and religious background to Holbein's life, bit does he have to liken Protestantism to a disease? "...any hope that the island [England] might be visited by a weaker strain of the virus or that preventive medicine might lessen its impact proved vain." There are equally irritating metaphors throughout. Wilson gives two quite different versions of the Thomas More/Stephen Vaughan relationship on pp. 154-5 and 180. And he makes claims for Holbein's movements that there is simply no evidence for (a second Basel-London round trip in 1528 and a return to Basel in 1540). Finally, as with so many books of this type, the illustrations are woefully inadequate. I read with my iPad at hand to look up images. But I would have given this book at least 4 stars had I not been so put off by the way the prose called attention to itself.

[Orsolya]

Could not finish: too much of an art history for me. I will check out other works from the author, though, due to the writing being sufficient.

[Velvetink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holbein is an interesting guy. Up to page 220 so far.

[Anne Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting.

I enjoyed this book, though of course a lot of it is guess work, as he knows. Note that Catherine Willoughby was not Charles Brandon's second wife, but his fourth! His early marriage ventures were shameful!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned way more than I thought I would, not just about Hans Holbein, but the Reformation across Europe and England. It's hard to imagine how revolutionary this was, and how it didn't happen over just a few years but decades. Also, the figures of King Henry VIII's court were interesting from a distance.

[Mary Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last chapter is the best! a wonderful read

[Heidi Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a different view of the reformation this is an interesting look.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had high hopes for this one. It was ok. Full review to come.

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I am not terribly interested in art history but there is something about Hans Holbein the Younger that captures my attention every time I see one of his paintings. I was delighted to find a biography about him, though as is always the case with figures we revere, I also learned some things about the gifted painter that I do not especially care for. Additionally, there were some major issues with some of the author's facts and a HUGE bias in favor of Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell in particular. I'll get to those in a moment.

Given the fact that Holbein was an artisan, it is not unexpected that major details of his life were not recorded. Wilson has to make guesses at certain points with the information we do have, filling in the gaps with the most likely scenario. While it is frustrating to not know, sometimes it is the only option. Sadly, both Holbein's beginning and end are somewhat shrouded in mystery; we do not know for sure the year he was born, or how he died - but at least we know the year. It is possible the plague is to blame, but there is no way to be certain. Additionally, we do not even know where the artist was laid to rest and his mortal remains are lost to history.

Holbein's personal life is the area where we are most lacking in knowledge, not surprising. It appears he had two families; his wife Elsbeth and their children in Basel, and a mistress with whom he had 2-4 children who were young at the time of his untimely death - based on guesswork, Holbein was around 45 when he passed. Based on Holbein's infrequent visits home to Basel, it would appear he favored this family, as he spent far more time in London than his home city. Of course, London also happened to be where all his major patrons called home before they were systematically and literally destroyed on Henry VIII's orders (Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell), but for the author to make the claim that Holbein was a family man, yet he almost completely ignored his actual family, seems like a leap without the facts.

This then brings me to all the issues I found within the book, which disappointed me because I am currently reading another by Wilson and have another one sitting on my desk that I am about to start about the Tower of London. Anyone who has ever read any of my reviews on books about Anne Boleyn knows I am not a fan, so that was strike one against the author for such a dramatic bias in her favor. However, given later comments he makes about other wives, I have a sneaking suspicion that had Anne not been such a pivotal figure in bringing Henry's attention to Protestantism, he would have said incredibly nasty and misogynist things about he as well. Two examples: Wilson is the only author thus far I have read who has referred to Jane Seymour as a 'vapid creature' (page 252). Then in regards to ridding Henry of the influence of the Howard clan he says, "That opportunity was handed to them on a plate by a stupid, over-sexed young woman" (page 276), meaning Catherine Howard of course.

The author's heavy bias toward Boleyn and Cromwell (this was especially unsettling; yes the religious revolution was exciting, but at what expense? I'm not even Catholic and the destruction of the religious houses and all that history disgusts me), and the factual errors relating to those at the Tudor court leave me wondering then what he might have gotten wrong them about Holbein, the very subject of the biography.

Still, for those interested I can recommend with some reservation. We catch a glimpse of Holbein and the world he lived, thrived, and struggled in. We see how difficult survival could be - especially when the king you are trying to gain favor with keeps chopping off the heads of the people who have employed you. Interesting read, though not without flaws, that is for certain.