On Saturday, November 18, 2023, I taught a class (A Critical Look at Blackwork Embroidery in Holbein's Paintings) in Chicago, IL.
During this in-person class, I mentioned some of Holbein's other works and the intricate details that he included. Some details were extremely fine and ornately detailed, while others are almost like hidden Easter eggs that feels like playing a game of Where's Waldo until you find the eggs.
One portrait mentioned in my class (but not included in the class because she did not have any blackwork embroidery visible in the portrait - which was the specific focus of the class that I taught) was Christina of Denmark (picture credit: The National Gallery in London). Per the National Gallery, "In 1538, King Henry VIII of England was
looking for a fourth wife, after the death of Jane Seymour the previous
year. As Henry’s official court artist, Holbein was sent to Brussels to
capture the 16-year-old Christina’s likeness. It’s
recorded that Holbein’s sitting with Christina only lasted from 1 to 4
p.m. on 12 March 1538. This is when he made a series of sketches to use
as the basis for the painted portrait. The image apparently pleased
Henry so much that he was reported to be ‘in better humour than he ever
was, making musicians play on their instruments all day long'. Although
their marriage negotiations failed, Henry kept Christina’s portrait
until his death in 1547."
Christina was born in 1521. When Holbein painted this portrait, Christina was already a widow (widowed when she was 13 years old in 1535, 1 month shy of her 14th birthday). "On 10 March 1538, Holbein arrived in Brussels with the diplomat Philip Hoby
to meet Christina. Hoby arranged with Benedict, the Master of
Christina's household, for a sitting the next day. Christina sat for the
portrait for three hours wearing mourning dress. Her rooms in Brussels were hung with black velvet, black damask and a black cloth-of-estate." (Wikipedia)
In my in-person Critical Look at Blackwork Embroidery in Holbein's Paintings class, I mentioned this portrait because of Holbein's detail work with the fabric that Christina is wearing. We can clearly see the velvet, the fur, and linen. "Holbein suggests the different textures of linen, velvet, fur, leather,
gold and gemstone to set off the delicate beauty of the flesh.
Christina's faint smile seems at once demure and intimate." (Web Gallery of Art)
When talking of Easter eggs in a Holbein painting during my class, I specifically made reference to The Ambassadors. Picture credit: The National Gallery
Per the National Gallery, "Jean de Dinteville, the man on the left, is shown on his second
diplomatic mission to England on behalf of Francis I, King of France. To
the right is his close friend, Georges de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur. This
portrait was painted at a time of religious upheaval in Europe.
Although the pope had refused to annul Henry VIII, King of England’s
marriage to Catherine of Aragon which resulted in a break with the Roman
Catholic Church, in 1533 he married Anne Boleyn. The array of objects
on the table seem to allude to discord; the arithmetic book, for
example, is open at the page concerning mathematical division."
Holbein demonstrated much skill in creating different textures within this portrait. Other Easter eggs within this painting include the broken string on the lute ("evokes ecclesiastical disharmony during the Reformation"), the skull (an example of a vanitas painting - the skull is only fully visible when looking at the portrait from the side - in other words, hidden in plain sight), and the almost hidden crucifix in the upper left corner "that hints at the hope of redemption in the resurrected Christ" (The National Gallery). A vanitas painting "are artworks that remind the viewer of the shortness and fragility
of life (memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning ‘remember you must
die’) and include symbols such as skulls and extinguished candles.
However vanitas still-lifes also include other symbols such as musical
instruments, wine and books to remind us explicitly of the vanity (in
the sense of worthlessness) of worldly pleasures and goods." (Tate) Some non-political details are also included in this painting, such as "the ages of the sitters being written in Latin on the dagger’s sheath (Dinteville) and on the book on the top shelf (de Selve)". (JSTOR)
