Art by Hans Holbein the Younger

Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497– before November 29, 1543) was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known for his numerous portraits and his woodcut series of the Dance of Death. Holbein was born in Augsburg, Bavaria and learned painting from his father Hans Holbein the Elder. Later he went with his brother Ambrosius Holbein to Basel where he met many scholars, among them the Dutch humanist Erasmus. Holbein was asked by Erasmus to illustrate his satires. He also illustrated other books, and contributed to Martin Luther's translation of the Bible. Like his father, he designed stained glass windows and painted portraits.
The Reformation made it difficult for Holbein to support himself as an artist in Basel, Switzerland, and he set out for London in 1526. Erasmus furnished him with a letter of introduction addressed to the English statesman and author Sir Thomas More. Holbein painted many portraits at the court of Henry VIII. While there he designed state robes for the king. He also designed many of the extravagant monuments and decorations for the coronation of Henry\'s second wife, Anne Boleyn, in the summer of 1533.
Several extant drawings said to be of Anne Boleyn are attributed to Holbein. One portrays a woman with rather plump features dressed in a plain nightgown. Some have said that this shows the queen during pregnancy, sometime between 1533 and 1535, but recent research suggests that the subject is actually one of Anne\'s ladies-in-waiting, possibly Lady Margaret Lee or one of her sisters. It seems more likely that portrait Holbein drew or painted of Anne Boleyn was destroyed after she was beheaded in 1536 on false charges of treason, adultery, incest and witchcraft.
Holbein painted Henry\'s third wife, Jane Seymour. He also painted Jane\'s sister, Elizabeth Seymour, who married the son of Thomas Cromwell. This portrait was incorrectly identified as Henry\'s fifth wife, Queen Catherine Howard, when it was discovered in the Victorian era. After Seymour\'s death Holbein painted Christina of Denmark during negotiations for her prospective marriage to Henry VIII. The likeness met with Henry\'s approval, but Christina declined the offer of matrimony, citing a desire to retain her head.
Holbein also painted Anne of Cleves for Henry VIII. Henry criticized the portrait as having been too flattering; it seems likely that Henry was more impressed by extravagant praise for Anne than with Holbein\'s portrait. There is some debate over whether or not a portrait miniature of a young woman in a gold dress and jewels is in fact Holbein\'s painting of Henry\'s fifth wife, Catherine Howard.