Taking a Critical Look at Blackwork Embroidery in Holbein's Paintings

This is a class that I had signed up to teach at RUM (Royal University of the Midrealm) and this video is to help me prep for teaching this class. So, in case you missed my class in person, here it is! 

 

Hans Holbein the Younger was a European painter, just like his older brother Ambrosius and his father, Hans the Elder. If you hear the term 'Holbein stitch', it is in reference to Hans the Younger. From his friendship with Erasmus, he had a letter of introduction and found himself in England to eventually become a court painter in the court of King Henry VIII of England. Compared to other artists at the time, Holbein painted numerous portraits with blackwork embroidery in them. 

 

 

 

 

For a copy of the class handout, please click here.

 

After recording this class, I found a few more of Holbein's paintings or sketches that included embroidery (that I included in the in-person class that I taught, but are not included in the above video). See below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Holbein the Younger, Hans. “Drawing.” The British Museum. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1975-0621-22.

Holbein the Younger, Hans. “Nicholas Bourbon.” Royal Collection Trust. https://www.rct.uk/collection/912192/nicholas-bourbon-c-1503-154950. 

 Holbein the Younger, Hans. “Edward Fiennes de Clinton.” Royal Collection Trust. https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/55/collection/912198/edward-fiennes-de-clinton-9th-lord-clinton-1st-earl-of-lincoln-1512-1585.

Holbein the Younger, Hans. “Queen Anne Boleyn.” Royal Collection Trust. https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/6/collection/912189/queen-anne-boleyn-c-1500-1536-on-the-verso-a-coat-of-arms-of-the-wyatt-family-and.