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but of Hans Holbein, the father. The whole conception and technical treatment shows this very clearly, especially the landscape, which even in the smallest details corresponds with the treatment of the landscape in the Basilica of St. Paul in the Augsburg Gallery, the principal work of that artist. The drawing of the hands, which is rather weak, affords another proof. It is true the picture has been somewhat injured by cleaning, but that the drawing of them was originally defective is easily discernible. Such is never the case in the works of Holbein, the son-not even in his very earliest productions; the father, on the contrary, however excellent he may have been as an artist, and especially in portrait-painting, the worthy precursor of his son, was weak in the technical treatment of the extremities. The tradition which in the figures of the portrait recognises Holbein and his wife, is not supported by any reliable proof, and is as worthless and unreliable as all "tradition" is in the history of the fine arts. Moreover, it is of a recent date. The picture was in the possession of King Charles I., and is described in the Catalogue of his collection, but without any mention of the name of Holbein : “Item. A picture in a black frame of a German in a furr'd cap and habit, together with his wife, in one piece, dressed with much linnen1 about her head, in a landscape, half figures less than life, painted upon the right light. Bought out of Germany by Sir Henry Vane, Treasurer of the Household, and given to the king. Done by some good German painter." The persons represented in the portrait are good, well-to-do burghers; the man, dressed in a fur coat and cap, does not in the least resemble that interesting bearded head which is displayed in the real portraits of the elder Holbein. This head is known by the engraving in Sandrart's "Teutsche Academie," the original of which-a drawing by the young Hans Holbein Sandrart declares to have had in his possession. (It is now the property of the Duke d'Aumale, and is at Orleans House, Twickenham.) It is an intelligent, exquisitely amiable countenance, drawn in silver-pencil, like the numerous other sheets in the Augsburg sketch-books of Hans Holbein, the son, which are preserved in the print and drawing cabinets at Berlin, Basle, and Copenhagen. It bears the following inscription, which exactly corresponds with that given by Sandrart, viz. :

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As to the other so-called Holbein pictures in the collection at Hampton Court, we find among them not only the very inferior copies of his pictures of Erasmus and Trobenius, but also all kinds of purely trade-like productions, such as representations of battles and festivities. (1) Vertue says, by a mistake, for muslin.

of the time of Henry VIII., which have nothing whatever to do with him, and likewise a Christ appearing to the Magdalen, which picture seems to be by Bartholomew Bruyn, a Cologne painter, and a little landscape which is evidently the work of H. de Bles. If such is the case in the Royal Gallery, what is one to expect of private collections ? Returning to the exhibition, there is the portrait of Sir Thomas More (No. 157), belonging to Mr. Henry Huth, which is perhaps the most beautiful of all the paintings to be found here by Holbein's hand. It is one of the first, if not the first portrait which the artist executed in England. It bears the inscription of the year 1527, and in the latter part of the summer of 1526 Holbein had entered upon his first residence in England. He was received, on the recommendation of his friend Erasmus, into the house of Sir Thomas More, and it is more than probable that he remained in the chancellor's country-house at Chelsea until his return to his native land in 1529, a guest and partaker of that charming family life which Erasmus describes with such enthusiasm in a letter to Ulrich von Hutten. He extols it as the school of genuine Christian sentiment-as a household the fate and destiny of which seems to be felicity. It is probable that Holbein gave the first proof of his art in a portrait of his host. The head of this great scholar and statesman, the countenance of this pure and excellent man, with the deep, searching look of the philosopher, and the sweet gentleness which is expressed in his features, impresses itself indelibly on the mind of the spectator.

On the other hand the specimen of the large family picture of Thomas More (No. 163), which belongs to Mr. Charles Wynn, is a copy, and a very indifferent one too. The family of More was very numerous, and it is possible that the celebrated picture was, even in former times, repeatedly copied for the different members who were desirous to possess their beloved relatives united in one group. It is not surprising that the original itself should have disappeared. It is very likely that in consequence of the terrible fate which a few years later befell Sir Thomas More, when, through the caprices of his cruel master, he suffered on the scaffold and had his estates sequestrated, the picture perished at a very early period. The more valuable are Holbein's own studies, which have been very fortunately preserved. Seven large heads belonging to that picture are in the collection of her Majesty at Windsor Castle. The museum of Basle, moreover, enjoys the distinction of numbering amongst its treasures the original sketches of the whole picture-a photograph of which has lately been published. A letter written by Erasmus shows that this drawing was brought to the great scholar by Holbein himself on his return from England in 1529. Erasmus, who by this time had quitted his abode at Basle, and taken refuge in Friburg, in Brisgau, on account of the disturbances of the iconoclasts at the

former place, expresses in a letter to Margaret Roper, the favourite daughter of Sir Thomas More, his heartfelt delight at the picture, which contained the likenesses of both her parents and of all the family. The sketch came into the Basle Museum in the collection of Boniface Amerbach, which had been the orginal nucleus of the Museum; Amerbach himself inherited it from his friend Erasmus, by whom he had been appointed sole heir. Although the sketch was intended only to serve as a basis for the whole composition, the likeness of the portrayed persons is, notwithstanding the mere outlines and the small proportions, strikingly perfect. Mr. Wynn's copy proves that the large picture in several points was different from the original sketch. In the latter Alice, the wife of Sir Thomas More, is kneeling down, and next to her are written the words in German, in Holbein's own handwriting, "Diese soll sitzen" (she is to be sitting). It seemed to the painter to agree better with the ensemble of the whole composition if he represented her in a sitting attitude, and such is the case in the copy. The servant of Sir Thomas More, who is leaning at the door, is also wanting in the sketch; and so is the view into a second room, in which a man is sitting reading. No. 150 is a worse copy still of the two centre figures of the family picture-viz., Sir Thomas More and his father. No. 78, which pretends to be the portrait of Queen Catherine of Arragon, is nothing but a copy of the likeness of Margaret Roper, who in the family picture is in front on her knees, to the right of the spectator.

The portrait of William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury (No. 86, from Lambeth Palace), is likewise one of the pictures which Holbein produced in the first year of his sojourn in England. The venerable old gentleman of more than threescore years and ten makes an imposing impression on the spectator by his priestly dignity and the firm energy of his appearance. The hands especially, which rest on a pillow in front of him, are noble and full of character. Regarding the manner of painting, there is a certain difference apparent between this picture and the half-length portrait of More. In the latter there is still predominant that warm brownish tint of the earlier times of the great master, whilst in the former a colder tint prevails, which gives to the shade an appearance of grey. The technical treatment in this picture appears to be more broad and free; nevertheless all accessories—for instance the cushion of gold brocade on the balustrade, and especially the magnificent crozier, with its blaze of jewels, are treated with wonderful care and accuracy. The study of this head in the collection at Windsor Castle seems to be the finest of all the drawings which are kept there.

Like this portrait, that of Sir Henry Guildford (No. 149, from the collection of Windsor Castle) also bears the inscription of the year 1527. It seems that Holbein at this time painted only such persons

as belonged to the more intimate circle of friends of Sir Thomas More. Both Warham and Guildford-the latter a warrior and a scholar, who fought against the Moors in the wars in Spain, and was afterwards appointed Master of the Horse to Henry VIII.—were on friendly terms with him and with Erasmus. Holbein has in this portrait displayed all his masterly talent in the exquisite treatment of splendid garments: the gold-embroidered dress, the gorgeous collar-chain-everything is executed with a rare perfection. The vigorous countenance, full of thought and energy, excites great interest. The strikingly yellow tint of the face is surprising. It has been taken for granted that the head has been painted over; but such is not the case on the contrary, it is in a remarkably good state of preservation. The colour must have been a peculiarity of the portrayed person. This may be inferred from its being indicated in a like manner in the drawing at Windsor Castle. The observation may be made here that there is another picture which passes for a portrait of Sir George Guildford painted by Holbein (No. 129); which, however, neither represents the former nor is executed by the latter.

Having been during his first stay in England principally employed by Sir Thomas More and his nearest friends, Holbein, on his second visit to England (1532), was chiefly patronised by his German fellow-countrymen, the rich merchants of the German Hansabund, who had their establishments in the Steelyard. For the latter he executed the grand but now lost pictures with the triumphal processions of Opulence and Poverty, almost the only compositions in this high style of art which he produced in England. He painted besides the portraits of many of these merchants, which are now dispersed among the various galleries of England and Germany, and almost all of which bear the inscription of the years 1532 and 1533. The finest among all these is the portrait of George Gyzen, in the museum at Berlin, dated 1532. Two other portraits of merchants for the Steelyard are in the galleries at Vienna and Brunswick, one signed with the name of the represented person, Dursk Beritt, and with the year 1536, in the collection of Lord Leconfield, at Petworth; but two very valuable ones are in the collection at Windsor Castle, viz., an interesting beardless youth, a front figure-according to the name given underneath, Derick Born-painted in 1533, and a man with a long beard, holding a letter in his hand, in which the word Stahlhof (Steelyard) is legible; this picture is dated 1532. These pictures, which represent no English celebrities, were, of course, not eligible for the present exhibition.

At this time Holbein could scarcely yet have been in the service of the king, as Mr. A. W. Franks undertook to prove in the Archæologia, vol. xxxix. p. 4. His name is neither mentioned in

the accounts of Sir Bryan Tuke, Treasurer of the Chamber, extending from 1st October, 20th Henry VIII. (1528), to May, 23rd Henry VIII. (1531); nor in the privy purse expenses of the same king, extending from November, 1529, to December, 1532. As the accounts of the next years are wanting, the documentary evidence of Holbein's occupation at the Court commences not earlier than with the year 1538. His works, however, prove that already previous to that year, in the time of Queen Jane Seymour, he was known to the king, and received commissions from him. There are certainly extant so-called "portraits of Queen Anne Boleyn by Holbein," but neither of them represents the queen, nor, if so, have they been painted by Holbein, as may be seen in the present exhibition. Among the works of this later period, during which Holbein painted almost all the celebrated persons at the Court and in the kingdom, we may quote the portrait of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex (No. 126). Of all the pictures of the great master collected here, this one makes the least favourable impression, because of its having been much injured. Its originality, however, cannot be doubted. The portrayed person is sitting on a wooden bench, with a high back attached to it. In his hand he holds a letter, with the following address:

"To our trusty and right welbeloved

Counsailler Thomas Crom

well, Maister of our Jewelhouse."

His

This was the first high office which was conferred by the king on the former favourite of Cardinal Wolsey. Later on he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, and created Earl of Essex. character is less clearly depicted in this injured picture than in another painting by Holbein, which is in the possession of Captain Ridgway, 2, Waterloo-place. The original unfortunately is not in the exhibition, but only a very defective copy (No. 103). Capt. Ridgway's picture shows only the profile of the head, in an oval space, with a stone frame, but the expression of character is exceedingly striking. The hair is invisible because all the back part of the head is covered by a black cap; the cheek is trimmed with downy whiskers. It is an uncommonly massive face, with small lips, a large nose, and small keen blue eyes. The fat neck is wrinkled like a bull's; the features betray cunningness and malice, and one cannot help feeling that a man with such an expression depicted in his countenance could not be trusted. His fall, which was as precipitate as his career was brilliant, was in a very great measure the result of his own acts. He was beheaded on Tower Hill in the summer of 1540, hated by the Catholics and deplored by the Protestant party. He is the hero of a well-known old English tragedy which Ludwig Tieck was inclined to regard as a work of Shakspeare.

VOL. VI.

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