Some account of the life and works of Hans Holbein, painter, of Augsburg

Front matter

THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM LIBRARY

LIFE AND WORKS OF HOLBEIN.

LONDON: PRINTED BY 'WILLTAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAJIIFORT) STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

Preface

For the readiest mode of attaining to an adequate idea of Holbein's taste, style of composition, and powers in drawing the human figure, I strongly recommend the reader to consult the fine series of photographs, from his designs in the Basel Museum now in course of execution in Germany by Adolph Braun of Dornach ; they are printed the size of the originals, by Swan's carbon process, and are supposed to be permanent : they are very forcible, and constitute a magnificent series of designs.*

October, 1866.

* They are, or shortly will be, published in this country by Messrs. Charles Haulf and Co., No. 4, St. Benet's Place, Gracechurcii Street, London.

Contents

THE FIRST BOOK.

INTEODUCTOEY— OLD BIOGEAPHIES AND NEW DISCOYEEIES— A FAMILY OF PAINTEES AT AUGSBURG.

CHAPTEE I.

CHAPTER II. New Discoveries . . . . . .29

Eecent confusion. 1 861 . . . . . 29

New light . . . . . .33

False attributions. 186 1 . . . . .34

Criticism not dogmatism . . . . .37

Holbein's will . . . . • .40

Holbein topography. 1861-6 . . . .41

Holbein's drawings . . . . .43

Documentary authorities . . . • .43

Kindred painters . . . . • .45

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III. Holbein the father. 1492-1508 . . . .54

Sigmund Holbein, living 1540 . . . .71

Ambrose Holbein. 1517 . . . . .75

Bruno Holbein . . . . . .78

THE SECOND BOOK.

HANS HOLBEIN THE YOUNGER. IN AUGSBURG, AND IN BASEL.

CHAPTER IV. Born at Augsburg in 1494-5 . . . . .79

The " Strasse zum Diebold " . . . .79

Fictitious signatures . . . . .84

CHAPTER V. Early works at Augsburg . . . . .86

In the convent of St. Catherine. 1510-16 . . .86

His father and mother . . . . .89

Madonna and Child . . . . .91

Early portraits . . . . . .92

Ulrich Schwartz . . . . . .93

Martyrdom of St. Sebastian . . . .94

Merz and wife . . . . . .97

The Imhof drawings . . . . . 99

CHAPTER VI. Removes to Switzerland, and settles in Basel: Works at Basel

and Lucerne . . . . . .101

Early works in the museum. 1516-17 . . . 103

The church reformers . , . . .106

Wanderjahre. Lucerne. 1517-19 . . , .. 107

CONTENTS. 9 CHAPTER VIL

PAGE

Settles in and becomes a citizen of Basel. The historical paintings

in the Town-hall of Basel . . . .111

Painter and citizen of Basel. 1519-20 . . . Ill

Boniface Amerbach . . . . .113

The Amerbach collection . . . . .116

The "Fountain of Life" at Lisbon . . . .117

The Town-hall, Basel . . . . .120

The frescoes of the Council-room. 1521-2 . . . 121

Earity of Holbein's easel-pictures at Basel. 1521-5 . . 127

Glass-painting . . . . . ,130

The drawings of the Passion .... 130

The Dead Christ. 1521 . . . . .131

CHAPTEE VIII.

Friends and patrons at Basel . . . . .133

Frobenius and Erasmus. 1521-5 .... 133

CHAPTEE IX.

The painter's character and marriage. " Pinguis et nitidus Epicuri de Grege Porcus." His wife and children. Elizabeth Schmid. Lais Corinthiaca. The Meier Madonna . 153

" Epicuri de Grege Porcus " . . . . 153

Holbein's wife and children. 1525-6 . . ,157

Lais Corinthiaca. 1526 , . . . . 162

The Meier Madonna. 1526, , . . .164

CHAPTEE X.

Wood engravings. The Dance of Death, and Bible-cuts . 176

The Dance of Death at Basel, about 1450 . . .176

Holbein's Dance of Death. 1526 . . . .180

Holbein's Bible-cuts . . . . .188

Cranmer's Catechism. 1548 . . . . 190

CONTENTS.

THE THIRD BOOK.

■ HOLBEIN IN ENGLAND.

CHAPTEE XI.

The painter leaves Basel, and comes to England, in the autumn of 1526, carrying a letter of introduction from Erasmus to

Sir Thomas More in London .... 192

The painter leaves Basel. 1526-7, 18th Henry VIII. . 192

His contemporaries in England .... 193

Catherine of Arragon . . . . .198

Foreign rivals in England ..... 200

Prices in England ...... 201

Social state of England ..... 206

From Basel to London . . . . . 207

CHAPTEE XII.

Holbein as the guest of Sir Thomas More at Chelsea, 1527-9 Earliest English portraits. 1527, 19th Henry VIIL The Windsor drawings Archbishop Warham Sir Henry Guildford

Sir Thomas More ....

Sir John Godsalve. 1528, 20th Henry VIII . Nicolas Kratzer ....

John Fisher . . . .

Sir Thomas More's religious sentiments The Eood at Dovercourt The More Family. 1529, 21st Henry VIII. .

Engraved by C. von Mechel

Portraits of More ....

Hardness of manner

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIII.

PAGE

Holbein visits Basel, and completes tbe paintings of the Town-hall, but within two years returns again to England . 254 He returns home 254 Eeligious disturbances . . • • ' • 255

Frescoes in the Eathhaus . . • • .256

Back again in London. 1531, 23rd Henry YIII. . . 257

The merchants of the Steelyard. 1532, 24th Henry VIII. . 258 George Gyze . . . • • • 259

The merchants of the Steelyard . . • .261

" The Triumph of Eiches " . . . • .263

"The Triumph of Poverty" . . • .264

Holbein recalled to Basel ..... 265

CHAPTEE XIV.

Holbein presented to Henry VIII. Miniatures and other portraits of the King and of the Eoyal Family . . 267 Presented to the King. 1533, 25th Henry VIII. . . 267 Queen Anne Boleyn ..... 269

The Princess Elizabeth * . . . . .270

The Princess Mary ..... 270

With the court at Calais ..... 273

The Battle of Spurs . . . . .274

The "Two Ambassadors" . . . . .275

Derick Born ...... 278

GerickTybis . . . . . .278

Ambrose Fallen ? . . . . . .278

The Sumptuary Law of 1533 .... 279

Portraits of the King ..... 280

Lady Audley's miniature . . . . . 284

The Dukes of Suffolk ..... 284

Church dissensions. 1534 ..... 285

Thomas Cromwell. 1535, 27th Henry VIII. . . 286

Death of Queen Catherine, 1536, 28tli Henry VIII. . 287

Disgrace of Anne Boleyn ..... 288

Derick Berck . . . . . . 288

The English Bible. . ' . . . .289

Henry VHL's portrait . . . . .290

* See also note, Appendix, p. 392.

]2

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Sir Eichard Southwell . . . . .291

Edward Seymour . . . . . .292

Undated portraits . . . . . .293

Jane Seymour . . . . . . 293

Sir Brian Tuke , . . . ... 294

Sir William and Lady Butts .... 295

CHAPTEE XV.

Holbein a servant of the King's Majesty . . . 303

Eoyal portraits at Whitehall. 1537, 29th Henry VIII. . 303

The birth of Prince Edward .... 309

Death of Queen Jane . . ... . 309

The Duchess of Milan . . . . .310

Payments of the Household. 1538, 30th Henry VIII. . 315

Holbein visits Basel for the last time . . . 316 Solicited to settle in Basel . . . . .318

The painter and the peer ..... 319

The Duchess of Milan ..... 321

Prince Edward. 1539, 31st Henry VIII. . . .323

Further payments to Holbein .... 326

His travelling expenses . . . . . 328

Anne of Cleves ...... 328

The last payments ...... 336

Henry Earl of Surrey ..... 336

Catherine Howard. 1540, 32nd Henry VIII. . . 336

Guillim Stretes ...... 337

The state of morals ..... 340

The Duke of Norfolk . . . . .342

Church of St. Andrew Undershaft. 1541, 33rd Henry VIII. 344

Sir Anthony Denny ..... 348

The Barber-Surgeons' picture .... 348

Queen Catherine Howard ..... 352

Henry VIII. marries his sixth w^fe. . . . 354

The family of the King. 1543, 35th Henry VIII. . . 354

Miniatures and drawings . . c . . 356

Drawings in the British Museum . . . . 357

Architectural designs ..... 359

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVI.

PAGE

Death of pestilence ..... 361

Holbein's will ...... 366

Philip Holbein . . . . . .371

John and Jane Holbein of Folkestone . . . 372

I. Inventory of Pictures, &c., belonging to Henry VIIL, in 1547 — "Stuff and Implements at Westminster, in tlie charge of Sir Anthony Denny, Knight, Keeper of the House " (Whitehall) . . . . .381

II. Catalogue of Portraits by Holbein, of English Lords and Ladies, of the Court of King Henry YIII., in her Majesty's Collection at Windsor . . . 395

Index to the Life and Works of Holbein

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. Portrait of Holbein, engraved on steel by Mr. C. W. Sharpe,

from the drawing by himself in the museum at Basel (noticed

at pages 116, 129, 132) .... Frontispiece

2. The Holbein arms, from the Painters'-book, at Basel (noticed

at page 371) . . . . . Titlepage

3. Dedicatory cut, from a design drawn on wood and signed by

Holbein, and used on several occasions in the publications of Frobenius (noticed at page 135) ... 1, 377

4. Tail-piece, two boys, from the upper part of the design for a

clock, made for Sir Anthony Denny ; in the British Museum 5, 373

5. Head-piece, arabesque, from a collection of drawings by

Holbein, in the British Museum. Sloane MS. No. 5,308.

A Plut. cxiii. B. . . , . . .7

6. Head and tail-piece, peasant dance from lower frieze of a title

or dedicatory cut, in the " Opuscula " of Plutarch, published

by Cratander at Basel, in September, 1530 13, 111, 132, 267

7. Head-piece, border tracery from a collection of drawings by

Holbein, in the British Museum. Sloane MS. No. 5,308 14, 79

8. Tail-piece, jewelled locket, from the Sloane MS. No. 5,308 16, 360

9. Head-piece, border tracery, from the Sloane MS. No. 5,308

17, 153, 192, 361

10, Large ornamental initial I, from Erasmus's edition of the treatise of Irenaeus " Adversus hsereses Yalentini," &c., published by Frobenius at Basel in August 1526 . 17, 79, 395

LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. it»

PAGE

11. Head-piece, frieze, foliated scroll with children, from the

"Opuscula" &c., of Plutarch . . . 29,86,214

12. Initial letter W, from the " Dance of Death " alphabet, at

13. Tail-piece, an ornamental design for a book-back ? from the

14. Head-piece, frieze, cinquecento scroll, from the " Opuscula " of

15. Initial letter O, from the " Dance of Death " alphabet

48, 86, 111, 251

16. Fortune, the printer's trade-mark, from the " Opuscula " of

Plutarch, published by Cratander. It is used on the first

and on the last page of the volume . . 78, 400

17. Head and tail-piece, arabesque border or frieze of satyrs,

nymphs, and jewels ; from the Sloane MS. No. 5,308

85, 101, 176, 303

18. St. Elizabeth of Hungary, from the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian,

in the Munich Gallery . . . . .95

19. Initial letter E, from the " Dance of Death " alphabet

101, 176, 214, 361

20. The " Ecce Homo," from the Passion series of drawings, in the

British Museum ...... 130

21. A "Hog of the herd of Epicurus," from the copy of Erasmus's

" Praise of Folly " at Basel . . . .156

22. Outline of the " Meier Madonna," from the picture at Darmstadt 166

23. Tail-piece, bust of Folly, from the " Praise of Folly" at Basel 175

24. The " Arms of Death," from the " Dance of Death " . . 180

25. Job, from the series of the " Bible-cuts " . . .188

26. Tail-piece, "Christ casting out a Devil," from Cranmer's

Catechism ...... 191

27. Large initial letter S, from Irenaeus "Adversus hsereses

28. Tail-piece, a study of a goat, from the Sloane MS. No. 5,308 . 213

16 LIST or ILLUSTEATIONS.

PAGE

29. Lord Vaux, a photograph from the drawing at Windsor . 216

30. Tail-piece, a Swiss lady, from a series of costume drawings in

the museum at Basel ..... 253

31. Mr. Morett, a photograph from the drawing in the Dresden

32. Tail-piece, arabesque, from the Sloaue MS. No. 5,308 . 302

33. The "Jane Seymour cup," from a drawing in the Bodleian

Library at Oxford ..... 358

34. Autograph of Henry VIII,, from a MS. in the Public Ptecord

THE FIRST BOOK.

INTRODUCTOEY-OLD BIOGRAPHIES AND NEW DISCOVERIES— A FAMILY OF PAINTERS AT AUGSBURG.

CHAPTER I. Old Riographies

N commencing at this late day an Ouap. i. account of the Life and Works of Introductory. Hans Holbein, it will not be uninteresting to the reader, to peruse as a prologue a brief analysis of the substance of the accounts given us by early writers ; from which indeed nearly all that till quite recently was known of his life has been mainly derived. Three accounts are more especially prominent, but even the oldest of them was not compiled till about a couple of generations after Holbein's death, and has accordingly no great historical weight. Documents unfortunately have not entered into the balance before the present century ; and what we have in that way even now, is remarkably little compared with what we might wish ; however, I can safely promise the reader some

LITE AND WOEKS OF HOLBEIN.

Chap. I. Introdudcry

Corel van Mander. 1604.

genuine matter of considerable value or I should not have ventured on the present attempt. I flatter myself that even the general lover of art-history will follow me with patience ; to the lover of Holbein's art in particular, I need make no apology, for he must follow me with interest, even though he should not be altogether satisfied with the results. This first book was originally in the form of an introduction to my volume, but it has run to such a length, and contains incidentally such a mass of information that is essential to the subject^ that it has developed itself into an integral part of the biography. It constitutes an essay on Holbein's life, in itself complete ; some may consider it as in a measure forestalling my work, but I give it as a necessary thesis, laying before the reader the subject he has to study, and as an inducement for him to enter upon the task with curiosity as well as interest. I do not offer this volume to the public as a " Catalogue Raisonne " of Holbein's works ; I have not the slightest inclination to undertake so laborious a task, which at most could only be used as a book of reference. I have done only what it has given me pleasure to do, and have attempted to produce a readable volume on the remarkable career of a remarkable man. I have placed before the reader a,ll I have been able to learn concerning Holbein's Life, and have given some account, with more or less detail as circumstances have dictated, of all his principal works, more especially however as a painter and draftsman ; and I have endeavoured in the investigation, to separate the true from the false. The subject is not without obscurity even now (1865). There is no plot to spoil, and the knowledge picked up in this preliminary review, will enable the reader to follow the various discussions in detail, as they arise, with some feeling of previous acquaintanceship.

The three writers above referred to are CAKEii van Mander* a painter of Meulenbeeke in Flanders ; Joachim von

* Ilet ScMlder-hoeh, or Eet Leven der door luchtige Nederlandsche en Hoogduitsche Schilders. Amsterdam, first published in 1604j small ito ; then in 1618 ; and again in 1764, in two vols. 8vo. Van Mander was born in 1548, only five years after Holbein's death.

OLD BIOGEAPHIES.

Sandrart* another painter, of Frankfort on the Main ; and Chap. i. Charles PATiJsrf a French physician settled in Basel. CareTmn The earliest of these, and of any notice of Holbein, is Zander.

that of Van Mander, published at Amsterdam in 1604, sixty years after Holbein's death, and it was compiled probably not much before that date. He says Holbein was born at Basel, or at Augsburg, in 1498, but he leaves both year and place in uncertainty. The rivalry therefore as to our painter's parentage, whether Swiss or German, is an old one ; it is however at length firmly established that Augsburg, in Bavaria, was not only the abiding place of his family for a generation or two, but was also his own birth place : the date of his birth was not later than 1495, as will be presently shown.

To continue Yan Mander's account, we are informed that the young painter was at least established very early in life at Basel, and there made the acquaintance of Bonifacius Amerbach the son of a well-known printer of that name, and acquired also the friendship of the celebrated Erasmus of Eotterdam, who had finally settled down at Basel in 1521. Both these acquaintances were very serviceable to him : Amerbach was a connoisseur and collector.

Holbein never visited Italy, says our biographer, and I have found nothing to contradict this statement ; but to escape from the pesterings of an ill-tempered wife, he was very glad to venture his fortunes in England : the greater field open to him in England was of course part of the inducement to leave Basel. He brought with him a letter of introduction to Sir Thomas More, from his old friend Erasmus, together with a painted portrait of the great scholar, which he was by Erasmus himself justified in saying was much more like him than the portrait taken by Albert Diirer.

Through Sir Thomas More, with whom he remained nearly

c 2

LIFE AND WOEKS OF HOLBEIN.

Chap, l three years, continues Van Mander, and tliis tradition seems Carei van ^® Corroborated by facts, Holbein was introduced to

Mandn: ^i^q king-, Hcnrv VIII., and was afterwards taken into that

1604 ""^

monarch's service. This brings us to the anecdote of the painter's throwing an obtrusive nobleman down stairs who persisted in forcing himself into his study after being warned that he could not be admitted, and we have a record of the compliment afterwards incidentally paid to Holbein by the king, at the nobleman's expense.

Van Mander notices portraits of the king, and of his children — Edward, Mary and Elizabeth ; besides other works ; and he singles out the admirable full-length figure of Henry VIII., which was still to be seen at Whitehall in his time. It is not easy to thoroughly follow him and identify all the works enumerated, but this portrait of the king is apparently the celebrated picture which was painted on the wall of the Privy Chamber at Whitehall, and of which there is a small copy at Hampton Court by Remigius van Leemput, one of the scholars of Vandyck. A portion of the original cartoon for this picture is still preserved, and is now in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire.

He notices also the large portrait piece of Henry VIII., and some members of the guild, belonging to the Barber-Surgeons ; and he refers to, but doubts, the report that this picture was left unfinished by Holbein, and completed by another hand. At the same time, he remarks that it is wonderful how many pictures Holbein did paint, considering the immense number of his designs for goldsmiths, silversmiths, engravers in wood, and sculptors. He notices further, the two cartoons or tempei^a pictures, on canvas, the well-known compositions of " Riches " and " Poverty," which Holbein executed for the Hanse merchants, in the Stahl-hoff or Osterkuis — the Steelyard of the Easterlings, in Thames Street — from which, he says, Federigo Zucchero made two drawings, about the year 1574, pronouncing them, as reported by Goltzius the painter, quite worthy of, if not superior to, Raphael. He mentions likewise the full-length portrait of a Countess, dressed in black satin, which was then

OLD BIOGEAPHIES.

in the house of the Earl of Pembroke, and of which this same Chap. l Zucchero declared that he had seen nothing so good in Rome. careTmn As an Earl of Pembroke presented or bequeathed some pictures -^^^^t^e^- to the Arundel family, we may safely infer that the admired picture in question is the excellent full-length of the Duchess of Milan, now at Arundel Castle.

Further we have a,n account of one Andrew or Andries van Loo, an enthusiastic admirer and buyer of Holbein's works, living in London : he possessed portraits of Master Nicolas (Kratzer) the king's astronomer — now in the Louvre ; of the old Lord Orauwl (Cromwell) ; of Erasmus of Rotterdam ; of the Archbishop of Canterbury (Warham) ; and of Sir Thomas More and his family, a large painting in water-colours (tempera) on canvas, which was after Yan Loo's death bought by one of Sir Thomas More's grandsons — the example now at Nostell- Priory in Yorkshire, seems to answer to this description, though repeated repairing and varnishing may have rendered its method a question. The portrait of the archbishop, says our author, passed afterwards into the hands of Master Coop, in London* — query, now in the Louvre, or at Lambeth ?

In Amsterdam was a Queen of England in cloth of silver, of wonderful workmanship ; and a small round miniature of Holbein himself, in water-colours, then in the possession of one Jaques Razet.

Holbein worked equally well, says Yan Mander, in oil and in water-colours ; and he executed many drawings ; he painted also miniatures of especial excellence ; which last art he learnt from one Master Lukas, then in London, whom however he very soon far surpassed ; in fact as the sun exceeds the moon in brilliancy, says our biographer, an assertion we must accept mm grano sails; and it is a pity that on so interesting a point, he was not more explicit as to what Luke he referred to. I assume Luke Hornebolt to be the man ; he.

* " Sir Walter Cope, who lived without Temple Bar, over against the Lord Treasurer Salisbury, and had several of Holbein, which passed by marriage to the Earl of Holland, and were for some time at Holland house." Oxford MSS.

Ydoert. — Walpole.

LIFE AND WOKKS OF HOLBEIN.

Chap. L liis father GerarJ, and his sister Susannah, were all distin- Carel van guished miniature painters : Luke Hornebolt was in England Mander. Holbein's time,, and was not only domiciled here, but was

also " a servant of the king's majesty."*

Van Mander tells us that he tried to get some authentic information concerning Holbein, from a Dr. Iselin at Basel ; but the Doctor answered his Dutch correspondent that it would be somewhat laborious to find out all he required, and that he could not undertake it, unless he were to be well paid for his trouble : at which Van Mander was very much disgusted.

He closes his account with the statement, only in part correct, that Holbein died poor in London, of the plague, in 1554, aged fifty-six ; thus placing the painter's death eleven

* There were three painters of the name of Luke living at this time — Lucas Van Leyden and Lucas Cornehsz, called the Cook-De Kok, completing the trio. The first may be dismissed at once, he was never in this country; the second, assumed by Vertue and Walpole to be alluded to, was here, but he in all probability came at a later time. He was the son of Cornells Engelbertsz and was born in the same year as Holbein, 1495 ; but as he came to tliis country through the pressure of the wants of a family of seven children, he can scarcely have come as a yomig man, and accordingly he too may be dismissed : we know nothing of any miniatures by him. We have no alternative therefore, but to adopt Lucas Horembout or more correctly Hornebolt, as the master who taught Holbein miniature painting. He was settled here in 1529 and perhaps earlier; his skill in this department of art may have incited Holbein's emulation. Holbein possibly came here before Hornebolt, but Holbein may have first adopted miniatui-e painting during his second visit to this country, after 1532, when in the king's service, as Sandrart distinctly states.

Luke Hornebolt of Ghent, was some years in Henry's service, and was in receipt of a higher salary than Holbein ever had — namely 55s. %d. per month.

He died in the spring of 1544, surviving Holbein about six months only. His Will was proved in the Consistory Court of Westminster, May the 27th, 1544, with administration to Margaret Hornebolt liis relict. See the paper on the " Contemporaries and Successors of IJolbein " by Mr. J. G. Nichols, in the 39th volume of the ABCH^oLOorA.

In this paper is also the following, from the lioll tf New Year's Gifts 30th Henry VIII., "By Lewcas paynter a skrene to set afore the fyre, standing uppon a fote of woode, and the ski-ene blewe worsted." This was in 1539, and tliis Luke received in return for his present, a gilt cruse weighing 10 i ounces. Holbein and Anthony Toto, an Italian, received similar presents for their gifts ; but there is no mention of Hornebolt — he was clearly this "Lewcas paynter," there was no other Luke of any distinction. See further about this painter in the Xlth chapter of this volume, where the Will is given in full.

OLD BIOGRAPHIES. 23

years too late, and making liim eight years older than he really Chap. i. was. This erroneous record, in the course of more than two cardvan centuries, many times repeated, has been the source of a ^'^^der. multiplicity of misconceptions, involving the history of Holbein and his works in a very deplorable confusion. There is a document among the archives of Basel, only recently discovered by Herr His-Heusler of that city, dated the 19th November 1545, which speaks of our Holbein as already deceased.* This date may have been communicated to Van Mander, and by a common but unlucky fatality the 4 and 5 have changed places in printing or in transcribing, and thus led to the long confusion. The document I refer to, is a letter from the Burgomaster Adelberg Meyer, to Jacob David, goldsmith in Paris. The restoration of this letter to light, gives us one more authentic record, proving the earlier death of Holbein than the popular error gave him.

The next account we have is that of Sandrart, in his Teutsche Academie, 1675. He substantially copies Van Mander, but also adds some original and interesting matter.

The family, he says, was of Augsburg, but as the father had Joachim von settled in Basel, Holbein was there born. After praising his style and some of his genuine and reputed works at Basel, including the " Dead Christ," the painter's " Wife and Children," and also Christ's Passion in eight compositions, an oil painting on wood, and the "Dance of Death," a fresco series in a churchyard there ; he observes that as far as he knows, Holbein never visited Italy. He relates Holbein's friendship with Erasmus ; the vexation he suftered from his wife's bad temper ; the sending of the portrait of Erasmus, by the painter to Sir Thomas More, whom and his family he most successfully painted ; and he notices the ultimate presentation to the King some three years after his arrival in England, at a banquet where Henry was shown, and had

* Speaking of Philip Holbein, it says — " von wylandt Hansen Holbein seligen, sinem Vater" &c.

LITE AND WOEKS OF HOLBEIN.

Chap. t. expressed his admiration of, the painter's excellent portraits. JoacUm von tli^n have a repetition at length of Yan Mander's anecdote Sandrart. g^hout the assault on the unlucky nohleman who wilfully interrupted the sturdy painter at his work.

Among the most prominent of the few works enumerated by Sandrart, are two which were at Whitehall ; one was a wonderful portrait of the King, full length as large as life ; and the other picture he merely speaks of as showing the painter to be a real Apelles. The portrait of Henry was that already mentioned of which we have the small copy by Remigius van Leemput, and of which a portion of the original cartoon is now in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire. The second picture I cannot guess at.

Sandrart also says that Holbein commenced miniature painting in the King's service, having been incited to adopt this branch of the art by the excellence of the works of Master Lucas, repeating the account of Van Mander. He enumerates the portraits in possession of Van Loo, and adds that the Earl of Arundel had a large collection of Holbein's pictures and drawings, some with the pen and washed, others in chalk ; both from profane and sacred history ; as well as portraits ; all executed with an ease and precision almost supernatural. He further mentions that " Sir " Inigo Jones had shown him a book of pen and" ink drawings of designs for silver-work, dagger-sheaths, vases, and other ornaments of figures, and scroll work, for almost every purpose, for furniture and the person, from a cap ornament to a shoe-buckle : this was apparently the Sloane volume.

Michael Le Blon or Blond, agent of the King of Sweden in Amsterdam, where Sandrart had settled after his return from Italy, was a celebrated collector of works of art and an engraver himself, unless there were two of the name. He possessed several pictures and drawings by Holbein — among them " a learned Doctor, behind whom was Death with an hour-glass" (this is perhaps the picture now at Munich, called Sir Brian Tuke Miles, in the catalogue) ; some other portraits ; and a Yenus and Cupid. Sandrart added another to his