1997 is the 500th anniversary of the birth of Hans Holbein the Younger - whose images of the Tudor Court, especially his full-length portraits of Henry VIII, have become virtually part of our national consciousness.
When Holbein first visited England, at the age of 29, he was already a leading painter and engraver in the Swiss city of Basel, which was rapidly becoming a centre for the Reformation.
Before he came, England's tradition of painting was meagre to say the least, and isolated from the main pictorial traditions of Europe. Into this unpromising situation, Holbein brought with him first-hand knowledge of Renaissance artists such as Leonardo and Raphael.
In England, theological reformation has often been associated with the destruction of the visual arts. English churches were about to become what Andrew Graham-Dixon has described on television as a 'radical battleground for the soul of a culture'. On the other hand, many European artists were happy to be identified with the reformers. An example was the artist Lucas Cranach, who became one of Luther's personal friends.
In 1526, Holbein made his way via Antwerp to London with letters of introduction to Sir Thomas More from a mutual friend, the humanist scholar Erasmus. Delighted and impressed, More invited Holbein to lodge at his family home in Chelsea.
The impact of the Scriptures
Holbein had painted more than one portrait of Erasmus, and from their friendship it could be assumed that he too was a humanist and moderate Catholic. His own spiritual pilgrimage seems to have started from this position. However, there is also visual evidence that he had felt the impact of the Scriptures. In 1522, the text of Luther's German New Testament had reached Basel, and was in great demand. Holbein designed the title page and over 30 illustrations for two new editions, and his attention to detail shows how carefully he had read the gospel narratives. Later, in England, he was to design the frontispiece to the Coverdale Bible.
Holbein returned to Basel in 1528, only to find that the Reformation was creating great difficulties for artists seeking a livelihood. In February 1529, the City Council ordered all paintings to be removed from the churches - including a number of Holbein's early works. Nevertheless, it is from this period that we have documentary evidence of his acceptance of the Reformed faith.
All prominent citizens were now required to register their assent to the doctrines of Zwingli and the Reformed (as distinct from Lutheran) Church, and it is in this context that Holbein is recorded as asking to be 'better informed about the (holy) table before approaching it'. Zwingli had opposed Luther's view of 'consubstantiation' - the presence of Christ 'in, with and under' the elements. The Swiss reformers denied absolutely the bodily presence of Christ, and saw the Lord's supper as an act of commemoration only. Holbein was evidently persuaded of this view. Shortly afterwards, he is recorded as having no objections and as wishing to attend along with other believers.
In 1532, Holbein left Basel once more to seek work in England. Again, he arrived to find that events were moving fast. In defiance of the Pope, the King had been negotiating for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Holbein's patron, Thomas More, had fallen from favour, and Cardinal Wolsey had been replaced by the Protestant Cromwell - the 'hammer of the monks'.
Initially Holbein had to seek new patrons. It is significant that he quickly found work among the Germany merchants of the Hanseatic League, several of whom were involved in importing Lutheran books.
His most important commission following his return was 'The Ambassadors' (now in the National Gallery), which contains many symbols concerning England's imminent break with Rome. On the lower shelf of the table between the two French Ambassadors lies a copy of what was then the standard hymnbook for the reformed churches of Germany - Luther's translation of Latin hymns. Beside it, the lute, symbolising 'concert' or harmony, may suggest the 'concert' of Christian princes proposed by Erasmus as the solution to the religious struggles within Europe.
The King's marriage finally took place in January 1533. The new Queen's sympathies with the reformers were noted by John Foxe, and her court became a centre of patronage which would have naturally attracted Holbein. Besides this, Cromwell was anxious to promote Henry's new persona as head of the English Church, and was quick to appreciate Holbein's skills as a propagandist.
In this area, European court painters enjoyed a unique position of influence. Though without political power, their access to the monarch and the images they created have in many cases shaped our view of history ever since.
Nevertheless, despite Holbein's distinction as an artist, his position at the English Court was a precarious one. Henry VIII, preoccupied with marital problems, was not a king who valued his court painter very highly. In addition, fear of idolatry meant that few leaders of the Reformation were prepared to explore new uses for the visual arts. Thomas Cromwell was an exception, and it was he who persuaded the King to entrust Holbein with important commissions.
The most famous of these, in 1537, was for a large mural for the Palace of Whitehall. For over 150 years, until its destruction in the fire of 1698, this was one of the great sights of London. The painting was intended to celebrate the power of the Tudor dynasty, now that Henry had at last acquired a male heir. It showed Henry VII and his Queen, Elizabeth of York, with Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, mother of Edward VI, on either side of an altar, on which verses proclaimed Henry's triumph over the Papacy and protection of the new religion.
It was Thomas Cromwell's efforts to bring about a union of Protestant European nations which ultimately led to his downfall. Following the death of Jane Seymour, he proposed that the King should found a Protestant alliance by marrying Anne, sister of Duke William V of Cleves. Holbein was dispatched to paint her portrait and, as German was his native language, must have realised her unfitness as a royal consort.
Cromwell's enemies, led by the Duke of Norfolk, used the King's displeasure over the marriage to effect his ruin. All hopes of a Protestant alliance of nations were thus destroyed. Accused by Norfolk of high treason, Cromwell was executed without trial in 1540.
Prince Edward's tutor
By this time, Holbein was 43 and at the height of his powers. Although he remained in the royal service, he was now discredited as a friend of reform who had prospered under Cromwell. Shortly before his death in 1543, his fortunes began to be restored by Henry's last wife, Catherine Parr, a woman known for her knowledge of Scripture, who commissioned portraits of the royal children.
We owe the preservation of Holbein's portrait drawings to another evangelical, the classical scholar John Cheke, who had come to Court in 1542 to act as tutor to Prince Edward. Cheke annotated the 80 or so drawings, and had them bound into 'the great booke' now in the Royal Library, Windsor - thus handing down to us one of the most remarkable records of a royal court ever made.
The long-term influence of Holbein's work was limited both by Henry's lack of vision and the power struggles which followed his reign. It was not until the accession of Charles I that England had a king who fully understood how to exploit the talents of his court painter (in this case a very different artist, Anthony Van Dyck, who had trained under Rubens and worked in Italy).
Predictably, Charles's enthusiasm for Italianate painting so angered the Puritans that they distanced themselves almost entirely from the visual arts. Holbein, on the other hand, had placed his work at the service of reform in England. Had his gifts been better used, a strong tradition of Reformation art might have been established in this country - and much Puritan iconoclasm could have been avoided.
Anne Roberts is a lecturer in Painting and Art History at Norfolk College, Kings Lynn, and a member of Snettisham Christian Fellowship. She has been an illustrator for EN, and completed an MPhil at the University of East Anglia in 1993.
