What picture of Holbein frightened Dostoevsky, and why the carpets and the style of embroidery were named after the artist

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Not only Prince Myshkin and his literary parent Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky were struck by the picture that this German artist painted almost five hundred years ago. Holbein's contemporaries considered the depiction of Christ to be too naturalistic; but other paintings by the artist were no less frank, except that it was expressed in something else. Holbein's portraits bared the temper, character, essence of those people who were captured on canvas, these portraits became more than images - images of historical figures.

From a family of artists

Hans Holbein the Younger was born in the German city of Augsburg in 1497. The Holbein dynasty included several talented artists, the father of Hans Holbein the Younger, his namesake, gave his sons the first art education. Hans and his brother Ambrosius first worked in their father's large workshop, and then left for Swiss Basel, where they improved their art as students of the famous artist Herbster.

The historical period that marked Holbein's formation as an artist was quite interesting. That was the time of the Reformation, when religious and political movements arose in Europe against the outdated domination of the Catholic Church. Holbein did not limit his social circle to his fellow craftsmen and customers, on the contrary, he was familiar with many extraordinary people of his era, those who had a great influence on the development of philosophical thought, the formation of humanism, and the eradication of medieval religious atavisms. Naturally, all this had a great influence on the personality of the artist. His success cannot be explained by the mere technique of drawing and the ability to masterfully master the secrets of chiaroscuro, Holbein talked with his audience on several levels, as did his friends: politicians, science and art of the late Renaissance.

Holbein's sphere of professional interests was very wide: he was engaged in painting facades, creating frescoes, church painting (artists received a huge volume of orders from the church at that time); he produced engravings for printing houses, illustrated books. Among the publications that Holbein had a chance to work on was the 16th century bestseller, The Praise of Foolishness by the philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam, an extremely popular figure in Europe.

This acquaintance played a large role in the fate of Holbein. After he painted several portraits of the philosopher - he sent them to his friends and admirers - Holbein's name turned out to be famous. Quite quickly, the artist gained popularity among his contemporaries - not only because of his connections, but also as a high-level master who developed his own style of painting.

Court painter and costume designer

In his biography, the "Basel" and "London" periods alternate several times. Going to the British island in 1526, Holbein painted many portraits of members of the humanist circle with whom Erasmus of Rotterdam was associated and communicated. In 1528, the artist returned to Basel and lived there for four years before returning back to England.

Holbein was actively interested in the Reformation and everything that accompanied it. The question of his religious views remains controversial, but he appears to have supported many of Martin Luther's ideas. In England, Holbein communicated with Thomas More, an adversary of Luther, a Catholic who was later executed for refusing to recognize the king as head of the Church of England. Later, the artist was patronized by Anne Boleyn and Cromwell. The patronage of the most influential persons in the state led to the fact that Holbein became the court painter of King Henry VIII.

During his work, Holbein painted a large number of portraits of the monarch and members of his family, portraits of courtiers. The artist also participated in the creation of royal vestments. It is possible that from Basel he went for some time to Italy, where he adopted certain pictorial techniques. The influence of Andrea Mantegna can be traced in Holbein's work, but the portrait of Charles de Sollier was generally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.

Looking at the faces depicted in the portraits, it is not difficult to “read” the artist's sympathy or antipathy for his model, the viewer “sees” those inner qualities that the master has endowed the characters in the paintings with. Holbein's portraits are distinguished by high accuracy, similarity, and they, like other works of the artist, are often ironic and sarcastic. Before starting to work with paints, the artist created sketches, sketches - sometimes they became independent, final works.

The main thing that Holbein paid attention to in his portraits was the face. The background, hands, figure were often assigned a much more modest role, except that the artist wanted to say something more with his work, which was not so rare. In the painting "Ambassadors", which depicts two men, a strange object is shown between them, at the bottom of the picture. It is difficult to immediately guess what it is and why it is depicted in a pair portrait. But if you look at the work from a certain angle, on the right, you can see the skull. This construction - "wandering anamorphosis of the skull" - is placed on the picture as a reminder of the nearness of death.

Mentions about Holbein in the novel The Idiot, in the history of embroidery and in descriptions of Turkish carpets

One of the works could not but produce a strong effect on the viewer - that's why it was created. This is "The Dead Christ in the Tomb", a painting painted in 1521 or 1522. There is evidence of how this picture was perceived by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. He saw this amazing work at an exhibition in Basel in 1867, and it was an impression that the writer shared with his wife and with his readers. He told about the picture of Holbein in the words of the heroes of the novel "The Idiot".

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The subject used by Holbein is found in European painting. But none of the artists - before Holbein - spoke out on this topic so realistically. There is a version that Holbein sought such an effect from the picture in order to present the planned "Resurrection" after it: this way the perception of the canvas would become more vivid.

Holbein is interesting both for his work and for the refraction of the philosophy of his time through his works. And in addition, the artist's name was given to the style of embroidery, when a pattern was made on the fabric with black threads, and - several centuries later - a type of Turkish carpets, whose pattern, blue figures on a red background, was repeatedly reproduced by Holbein in his paintings. on a widow named Elsbeth, who kept leatherworking after the death of her first husband and raised her son Franz. After remarrying, she gave birth to several children to Holbein.

It is believed that the artist died of the plague in 1543. The place of his burial is unknown. But the works that have survived to this day remain in plain sight: Holbein's portraits allow not only to examine his contemporaries, but also to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of that era: his portraits are not just "living", each of them has its own character, in a sense "Speaks" with connoisseurs of painting. Actually, it is only through his work that the artist transfers information to his distant descendants: no records of Holbein have survived, as neither information about his students, nor a description of the methods used by the artist have come down to us.

Holbein's painting once forced the English monarch to act rashly and offer his hand and heart to Anna of Cleves: later the king's bride became his sister.