Hans Holbein the Younger: Last Days

Hans Holbein, 46 years old, died in London between the first week of October and the last week of November 1543.  On October 7th, he had written his will, which provided solely for the care of his two illegitimate children and the payment of his debts. According to a note dated November 29th, the goldsmith Hans of Antwerp, who had been appointed executor, refused to execute the will for reasons that are not known. The exact cause of his death is also a puzzle, but many have speculated it was of the plague - most likely the English Sweating Sickness.

"A newe Kynde of sickness came through the whole region, which was so sore, so peynfull, and sharp, that the lyke was never harde of to any mannes rememberance before that tyme." So ran an account written during the Tudor dynasty. It was characterized by sudden headaches, muscle pain, fever, profuse sweating and labored breathing. A person could be well one day and dead the next. Between 1485 when the sickness first appeared and 1551 when it disappeared, thousands had died from it - most likely including Hans Holbein.

King Henry VIII was extremely wary of disease. He ordered the royal physicians to examine him thoroughly on an almost daily basis and kept a medicine cabinet filled with potions to cure any ailment. Any sign of illness at court would send him into a panic. When he heard to an outbreak of the dreaded Sweat in the summer of 1528 he ordered that the court be immediately broken up and 'took off on a flight from safe house to safe house' in different parts of the country. His courtiers followed suit, but the poorer classes had no such option and had to remain in the crowded city of London. 

Speculation that Holbein died of the disease arises from no known burying place for him. So many people expired daily that plague pits were dug since the local churches could not cope with individual burials. Indeed there are pits close to his final residence in London, which was on the grounds of King Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley's estate, Cree-Church Mansion. The pit for those who died at that residence was at St. Katherine Cree. 

Hans Holbein was not a stranger to depicting death. Three of his artworks come to mind in this regard: "The Dance of Death," "The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb," and "The Ambassadors." The "Dance of Death"is a series of 41 woodcuts depicting the moment when Death surprises people of various professions in the midst of their daily lives. Each of the 41 woodcuts were very small, the size of four postage stamps arranged in a cube, cut by an expert carver, and published as a book in 1538.

Dance of Death Woodcuts by Hans Holbein

"The Body of Christ in the Tomb" was painted early on in Holbein's career in 1521 and shows Christ after his crucifixion in a state of rigor mortis lying in the tomb before his resurrection. Its purpose was to evoke reverence for Christ's death, faith and piety.

"The Body of Christ in the Tomb" by Holbein

Holbein's "The Ambassadors" may seem like a straightforward portrait - until you look down at the floor, where a strange, elongated object floats above the floor. If you would view the picture, however, from the lower right, the shapes morph into a human skull - the symbol of death. There are also two small skulls painted on the cap of the ambassador on the left. These powerful, wealthy and influential men are being reminded that death is ever present and should help shape how we live while on this earth. They would have appreciated that sentiment as part of their portraits. To see the skull transform, click here.

"The Ambassadors" by Hans Holbein the Younger

(Information from "The Death of Hans Holbein" by Franny Moyle; and "What was the Sweating Sickness? And how did Henry VIII 'self-isolate'?" by Tracy Borman.)