Hans Holbein the Younger: From Apprentice to Master

"Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach"
by Hans Holbein the Younger

"Part of a painter's training in the Late Middle Ages was a period of apprenticeship. Hans Holbein the Younger completed his in Basle, when, towards the end of 1515, he and his brother Ambrosius probably entered the workshop of Hans Herbst.   

An important step towards his gaining general recognition as a painter must have been the double portrait of Jakob Meyer zum Hasen, the mayor of Basle, and his second wife. Hans also took on a commission in Lucerne with his father to paint murals on the interior and exterior of the mayor's splendid house. The extensive work illustrating the three virtues Prudence, Fortitude, and Hope; a scene from a medieval legend, 'The Test of the King'; the 'Triumphs of Caear,' and 'Leaina Before the Judges' took him two years.

Reconstruction of the Hertenstein House in Lucerne

By the time Holbein became a master of the 'Zum Himmel' painters guild of Basle on September 25, 1519, he had already proved his skills in numerous artistic techniques: his fame as a panel painter and draftsman would certainly have been a great asset; in Lucerne he had acquired experience in painting murals and was a skilled designer of woodcuts, a facet of his creativity in which he was to be highly productive.

The 'Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach' was presumably the first commission Holbein received as a master. On an inscription panel hanging on the branch of a fig tree, Holbein placed his own name in the last three lines besides the name of the sitter and dated the portrait precisely: October 15, 1519. The previous eight lines read: 

'Although a painted face, I am not second to the living face. I am the gentleman's equal, and I am distinguished by correct lines. He has lived eight periods of three years [24 yrs. old], and through me this work of Art depicts with diligence what belongs to Nature. The complicated text was written by Amerbach himself, a young, humanistically educated student of law."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Hans Holbein" by Stephanie Buck.)