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 paralysis of art due to the spread of the new doctrines and to the dissensions which they caused, Holbein found his profession an unprofitable one at Basle, and determined on carrying out a previously conceived plan of visiting England in the hope of making a fortune there. Erasmus provided him with an introduction to Sir Thomas More, and sent him by way of Antwerp with a letter to Petrus Ægidius, and a further introduction to the painter Quentin Matsys, who had painted the double portrait of Erasmus and Ægidius, previously sent by Erasmus as a present to Sir Thomas More. A fine drawing of a ship (in the Städel Institut at Frankfurt) is supposed to be a record of Holbein's journey on this occasion.

Holbein arrived in England in the eighteenth year of the reign of Henry VIII (1526–7). Sir Thomas More was then chancellor of the exchequer, and Warham, another correspondent of Erasmus, was archbishop of Canterbury. Through them Holbein obtained easy access to the leading men of the court. Portraiture was the only form of art open to him, and he made worthy use of it. He painted Sir Thomas More [q. v.] in 1527 (in Mr. Huth's collection, drawing at Windsor), Archbishop Warham [q. v.] (at Lambeth Palace, and another in the Louvre, drawing at Windsor), John Fisher [q. v.], bishop of Rochester (no original known, drawings at Windsor and in the print room, British Museum), Sir Henry Guildford [q. v.] (picture and drawing at Windsor), Lady Guildford (in Mr. Frewen's collection), Thomas and John Godsalve (at Dresden, coloured drawing of Sir John Godsalve [q. v.] at Windsor), Sir Bryan Tuke [q. v.] (at Munich, and another at Grosvenor House), Nicholas Kratzer [q. v.] the astronomer (in the Louvre), Sir Henry Wyat [q. v.] (in the Louvre), and others, including Sir Thomas Elyot [q. v.] and Lady Elyot (drawings at Windsor), whose portraits have perished. He designed, though it is not certain that he ever carried into execution, a large picture of Sir Thomas More among his family and household. Various versions exist, the best being at Nostell Priory, but none can be accepted as Holbein's work. Some large drawings for the heads are in the collection at Windsor; the drawing for the whole (in the museum at Basle) was taken by Holbein on his return to Basle in 1528, and in August 1529 presented at Freiburg-im-Breisgau to Erasmus, who expressed in a letter to Sir Thomas More his delight at seeing it.

Holbein, on returning to his family at Basle, purchased a house on 29 Aug. 1528. He probably painted at this time the portrait of his wife and two children, and also a new portrait of Erasmus (both in the museum at Basle). The reformed religion, however, now held the day in Basle, and the citizens were forced into compliance with it. In 1529 an iconoclastic outbreak took place in which many of Holbein's religious paintings perished. Holbein was, however, employed to complete the series of mural paintings in the town hall, and added the two fine compositions ‘The Meeting of Samuel and Saul’ and ‘Rehoboam,’ the memory of which is preserved by drawings in the museum at Basle. He found, however, but inadequate employment, and, in spite of the appeal of his fellow-citizens, returned to England in 1532. Here, however, he also found matters changed. More, who had become lord chancellor, was in disgrace, and Warham was dead. He found his first employment among his compatriots, the merchant goldsmiths (the bankers of the time) of the Steelyard. Several beautiful portraits of them survive, among them being John of Antwerp (at Windsor), Derich Born (at Munich, and another at Windsor), Georg Gyse (at Berlin), Derich Berck (at Petworth), Derich Tybis (at Vienna), and Cyriacus Fallen (at Brunswick). For the Steelyard merchants he designed an allegorical pageant of ‘Parnassus’ (drawing at Leipzig), on the occasion of Anne Boleyn's coronation procession. He was also employed to paint two large paintings for the walls of their hall, representing ‘The Triumph of Riches’ (drawing in the Louvre) and ‘The Triumph of Poverty.’ These pictures, which came into Charles I's collection, were sold into Flanders, and have disappeared; copies were made by Federigo Zuccaro (copies of these in Lady Eastlake's collection), and others by Jan de Bisschop (in the print room at the British Museum). The fine drawing of ‘The Queen of Sheba before Solomon’ (at Windsor) was probably a design for a similar painting. To this year belongs the portrait of Robert Cheseman, the king's falconer (in the gallery at the Hague). In 1533 Holbein painted the important picture known as ‘The Ambassadors’ (in the National Gallery, drawing for the principal head at Windsor); it is uncertain who the persons depicted are, but a suggestion (see Art Journal, January 1891) has been made (among others) that they represent Jean de Dinteville, Bailli de Troyes, ambassador from France to England in 1533 and 1535, and his friend the poet scholar, Nicholas Bourbon of Vandœuvre, known in many ways as among Holbein's most intimate friends. As a companion to this may be reckoned the ‘Morett’ portrait (picture and drawing at Dresden), representing Charles de