Hans Holbein the Younger, Volume 2 (of 2)Chamberlain, Arthur B. (Arthur Bensley)
History
Hans Holbein the Younger, Volume 2 (of 2)
Chamberlain, Arthur B. (Arthur Bensley)
Holbein, Hans, 1497-1543 -- Criticism and interpretation; Painters -- Germany -- Biography
Reproduced in _Magazine of Art_, May 1897, p. 42; and in the catalogue
of the collection of the Earl of Radnor, W. Barclay Squire, 1909, No.
144. It is 4 in. in diameter, and is given to Holbein in the
catalogue. Engraved by C. Picart, 1817.
Footnote 474:
Parthey, 1554.
Footnote 475:
Parthey, 1550.
Footnote 476:
Parthey, 1549. Woltmann, 350; Wornum, ii. 38; Holmes, ii. 24.
Footnote 477:
Parthey, 1465. For the drawing, see p. 258.
Footnote 478:
Parthey, 1545. See p. 182, note 4.
[Sidenote: DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM’S COLLECTION]
Holbein’s practice during his last English period seems to have been
devoted almost entirely to portraiture, so that an entry in an inventory
of the Duke of Buckingham’s pictures at York House, made in 1635,[479]
is of exceptional interest, as it shows that he did occasionally paint
subjects other than portraits. It runs as follows: “Hans Holbin.—Jupiter
and Jo in Water Coulers.” This picture, of which all traces are lost,
was hanging in the Vaulted Room. The Duke possessed a number of other
works by or attributed to Holbein, but unfortunately the entries in the
inventory are so tantalisingly vague that it is impossible to gather
much information about them, though two of them seem to have been
portraits of Steelyard merchants. They included “Erasmus Rotterodamm
after Holbin”; “A Dutchman Sealing a Letter” (possibly the John of
Antwerp now at Windsor);[480] “A Rare piece, being a Dutchman”; “A
Queen”; “An other Lady”; “A little picture in Linnen”; and “A little
picture of Holbin himself,” which was probably one of the miniatures.
With the exception of the last-named, all are described as by “Holbin”
or “Hans Holbin.”
Footnote 479:
See Randall Davies, _Burlington Magazine_, vol. x., March 1907, pp.
376-82. Also Walpole, _Anecdotes_, ed. Wornum, vol. i. p. 94.
Footnote 480:
See pp. 9-14.
[Sidenote: THE “DANCING PICTURE”]
Another subject-picture by Holbein is mentioned by Evelyn in his
_Diary_, but so vaguely that it is impossible to guess what it could
have been. He says, under the date May 8, 1654: “I also call’d at Mr.
Ducie’s, who has indeede a rare collection of the best masters, and one
of the largest stories of H. Holbein.” This, however, may have been some
picture similar to “The Battle of Spurs” at Hampton Court, attributed to
Holbein in Evelyn’s day, and not a genuine work of the master. His
judgment was not always infallible, as he speaks of the well-known
“Dancing Picture,”[481] which he saw at the Duke of Norfolk’s at
Weybridge (23rd August 1678) as “that incomparable painting of
Holbein’s.”
Footnote 481:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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