Hans Holbein 'the Younger' Trivia Quiz

Answer: Augsburg

Holbein was born in 1497 or 1498 to a family swamped in artists. His father was Hans Holbein the Elder, his uncle was Sigmund Holbein, both of whom were renowned for their work in late Gothic painting. Hans the Younger's brother Ambrosius was also a painter, but died young about 1519. Hans Holbein the Elder was the brothers' first influence, but their styles developed while studying in Basel, Switzerland. Holbein the Younger is considered to be in the second generation of 16th-century German artists, in fact he is considered to be the only truly outstanding German artist of his generation.

He had a tough act to follow though, coming into the art world after Albrecht Durer, Matthias Grunewald, and Lucas Cranach.

Answer: Burgher

When Holbein arrived in Basel, he joined the painters' corporation in 1519, which aided him greatly in pursuing his particular style and also began to socialize with the City's publishers and their humanist circle of friends. Around that time he also married a tanner's widow and then became a burgher of Basel in 1520.

The connections that he was making began to reap great benefits, his role as a Burgher provided him with the opportunity to paint a mural in the Great Council Chamber of Basel's town hall in 1521. Because of his aquaintance with the humanists living in and around Basel, Holbein also started doing portrait commissions, which (mainly those of his later career) would become the pieces of art for which he is particularly remembered.

At that early stage he still managed to get a commission to paint a portrait Bonifacius Amerbach (a famous Humanist scholar).

Answer: The Dance of Death

Death was a very important allegorical concept in medieval times and Hans' the 'Dance of Death,' was cut about 1523-26. The woodcut was actually cut by another artist, but designed by Hans. The book in which the woodcut was featured was not published until 1538.

The scenes show immense details of the lifestyles and habits of those destined to become Death's victims, which is more remarkable because of the very small areas within which they were cut.

Answer: Rugs

Holbein rugs use a variety of 16th and 17th century patterns that were popularized by Hans in a number of his paintings. The patterns generally consist of octagons twisted with arabesques. The rugs are known as 'Anatolian', meaning that they are based on traditional concepts from Anatolia, a region that covered the East of modern Europe and into the Near-East and Mid-East.

The Indo-European culture eventually dissolved thousands of years ago to form the backbone culture of many European and Near-Eastern societies, such as the Greeks, Turks, and so on.

Answer: Desiderius Erasmus

Holbein completed one of his most important portraits in 1523, when he painted Erasmus at a desk engrossed with correspondence. Holbein was gaining quite a reputation for detail and it is noticable in his picture of Erasmus, particularly in the detail given to Erasmus' face, hands and clothing.

The portrait was completed shortly before Protestantism really began to gain a foothold in the 1520's. In the mid-1520's Europe was seized by a fury of riots, which were quickly followed by repression and strict censorship.

This effectively put a hold on artistic expression in Basel, Switzerland, and left Hans with the choice of giving up art or moving. Holbein chose the latter and travelled to England with a document prepared by Erasmus, introducing Holbein to the English court.

Answer: 150

Considering the time involved in painting a portrait and the complexity of detail that Holbein managed to incorporate into them, the number of finished portraits that he managed to do is quite remarkable. Included in these paintings are portraits of the King, as well as two of his wives (Seymour and Cleves) and countless pictures of foreign ambassadors or merchants from Europe. Holbein's attention to detail in the entire painting, rather than to the portrayed individual's face alone, became much more pronounced and accentuated during this phase of his life. Holbein concentrated on including an item or two as decoration that emphasized a particular attribute of the individual or which gave some specific meaning related to the individual (a skill that he had practised in Europe following in the style of many Renaissance artists).

Answer: Fashion Designer

Most of Holbein's work contains a significant lack of emotion or psychological depth. Hans concentrated more on the texture of materials that he portrayed in his paintings and, therefore, gave more attention to detail in his paintings, rather than to expression and emotion.

This is quite apparent, for instance, in his painting of Sir Thomas More, where the detail is so exact as to include the stubble on More's chin, but where More is portrayed with a completely straight face, giving the viewer no clue as to More's state of mind or psychology.

This did, however, provide the English Court with the perfect instrument for designing fashion apparel, such as all of the King's state robes, horse outfittings, heraldic designs, pageantry and so on.

Answer: Anne of Cleves

Holbein painted a particularly flattering portrait of Anne of Cleves, who was not considered by many in history to have been a very attractive woman. In fact, when Henry saw Anne in person he is said to have gained an instant aversion to her. His distaste for Anne effectively resulted in both the end of the marriage and the end of Thomas Cromwell's period of power. Holbein, fortunately escaped facing the King's wrath, the most convincing argument being that most people of the time considered an artist to be doing his master's bidding and, therefore, blameless of the result.

Answer: The plague

Holbein died of a plague that had beset London, England in 1544, and left behind numerous debts, two illegitimate children in London and two children and a wife in Basel, Switerzland. He had actually made an undertaking to the Basel city council that he would return to their city within two years if they paid for the upkeep of his wife and children, but he died before being able to honour it.

Answer: The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection is located in a beautiful building on the east side of Central Park in Manhattan, a short way down from the Metropolitan. Viewing art within its walls is quite the treat, as the building was once the residence of Henry Clay Frick, and it maintains its more comfortable surroundings despite being fully open to the public.

In fact, most of the pieces of art are not even roped off or glass covered, allowing the viewer to have an unrestricted look at many great pieces of art (which is why children under 10 are not admitted to the Collection and even those under 16 must be accompanied by an adult).

More's portrait has him facing to the East, whereas Cromwell's has him facing to the West. The Frick Collection has created an ironic situation in that the portraits are usually hung so that More and Cromwell appear to be facing each other.