Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/64

54 and Memling ; whilst in later works, such as the Basilica of St Paul in the gallery of Augsburg, the wane of Flemish influence is apparent. But this altarpiece, with its quaint illustrations of St Paul s life and martyrdom is not alone of interest because its execution is characteristic of old Holbein. It is equally so because it contains portraits of the master himself, accompanied by his two sons, the painters Ambrose and Hans Holbein. Later pictures, such as the Passion series in the Furstenberg gallery at Donaueschiugen, or the Martyrdom of St Sebastian in the Munich Pinakothek, contain similar portraits, the original drawings of which are found in old Holbein s sketch-book at Berlin, or in stray leaves like those possessed by the duke of Aumale in Paris. Not one of these fails to give us an insight into the character, or a reflex of the features, of the members of this celebrated family. Old Holbein seems to ape Leonardo, allowing his hair and beard wildly to grow, except on the upper lip, Hans the younger is a plain-looking boy. But his father points to him with his finger, and hints that though but a child he is clearly a prodigy. After Hans Holbein the elder appears as a defaulter in the registers of the tax-gatherers at Augsburg ; but he willingly accepts commissions abroad. At Issenheim in Alsace, where Griinewald was employed in, old Holbein also finds patrons, and contracts to complete an altarpiece. But misfortune or a bailiff pursues him, and he leaves Issenheim, abandoning his work and tools. According to Sandrart, he wanders to Basel and takes the freedom of its guild. His brother Sigmund and others are found suing him for debt before the courts of Augsburg. Where he lived when he executed the altarpiece, of which two wings with the date of are in the gallery of Carlsruhe, is uncertain ; where he died two years later is unknown. He slinks from ken at the close of a long life, and disappears at last heeded by none but his own son, who claims his brushes and paints from the monks of Issenheim without much chance of obtaining them. His name is struck off the books of the Augsburg guild in. The elder Holbein was a prolific artist, who left many pictures behind him. Earlier than the Basilica of St Paul, already men tioned, is the Basilica of St Mary Maggiore, and a Passion in eleven pieces, in the Augsburg gallery, both executed in. Another Passion, with the root of Jesse and a tree of the Dominicans, is that preserved in the Staedel, Saalhof, and church of St Leonard at Frankfort. It was executed in. The Passion of Donau- eschingen was finished after, in which year was completed the Passion of Kaisheim, a conglomerate of twenty-seven panels, now divided amongst the galleries of Munich, Nuremberg, Augs burg, and Schleissheim. An altarpiece of the same class, commissioned for the monastery of St Moritz at Augsburg in –, has been dispersed and lost. is the date of a Conception in the Augsburg gallery, long assigned, in consequence of a forged inscription, to Hans Holbein the younger. A diptych, with a Virgin and Child, and a portrait of an old man, dated, is in separate parts in the collections of Mr Posonyi and Count Lanckoronski at Vienna. The sketch-books of Berlin, Copen hagen, and Augsburg give a lively picture of the forms and dress of Augsburg residents at the. They comprise portraits of the emperor Maximilian, the future Charles V., Kunz von der Rosen the fool of Maximilian, the Fug^ers, friars, merchants, and at rare intervals ladies.  HOLBEIN,, the younger (–), favourite Bon of Hans Holbein the elder, was probably born at Augsburg about. Though Sandrart and Van Marnier declare that they do not know who gave him the first lessons, he doubtless received an artist s education from his father. About he left Augsburg with Ambrose his elder brother to seek employment as an illustrator of books at Basel. His first patron is said to have been Erasmus, for whom, shortly after his arrival, he illustrated with pen-and-ink sketches an edition of the Encomium Moriae, now in the museum of Basel. But his chief occupation was that of drawing title page-blocks and initials for new editions of the Bible and classics issued from the presses of Froben and other publishers. His leisure hours, it is supposed, were devoted to the production of rough painter s work, a schoolmaster s sign in the Basel collection, a table with pictures of St Nobody in the library of the university at Zurich. In contrast with these coarse productions, the portraits of Jacob Meyer and his wife in the Basel museum, one of which purports to have been finished in, are miracles of workmanship. It has always seemed difficult indeed to ascribe such excellent creations to Holbein s ; and it is hardly credible that he should have been asked to do things of this kind so early, especially when it is remembered that neither he nor his brother Ambrose were then allowed to matriculate in the guild of Basel. Not till did Ambrose, whose life otherwise remains obscure, join that corporation ; Hans, not overburdened with practice, wandered into Switzerland, where  he was employed to paint in the house of Jacob Hertenstein at Lucerne. In Holbein reappeared at Basel, where he matriculated, and, there is every reason to think, married. Whether, previous to this time, he took advantage of his vicinity to the Italian border to cross the Alps is uncertain. Van Mander says that he never was in Italy ; yet the large wall- paintings which he executed after at Basel, and the series of his sketches and pictures which is still extant, might lead to the belief that Van Mander was misinformed. The spirit of Holbein s compositions for the Basel town-hall, the scenery and architecture of his numerous drawings, and the cast of form in some of his imaginative portraits, make it more likely that he should have felt the direct influence of North Italian painting than that he should have taken Italian elements from imported works or prints. The Swiss at this period wandered in thousands to swell the ranks of the French or imperial armies fighting on Italian soil, and the road they took may have been followed by Hans on a more peaceful mission. He shows himself at all events familiar with Italian examples at various periods of his career ; and if we accept as early works the Flagellation, and the Last Supper at Basel, coarse as they are, they show some acquaintance with Lombard methods of painting, whilst in other pieces, such as the series of the Passion in oil in the same collection, the modes of Hans Holbein the elder are agreeably commingled with a more modern, it may be said Italian, polish. Again, looking at the Virgin and Man of Sorrows in the Basel museum, we shall be struck by a search ing metallic style akin to that of the Ferrarese ; and the Lais or the Venus and Amor of the same collection reminds us of the Leonardesques of the school of Milan. When Holbein settled down to an extensive practice at Basel in, he decorated the walls of the house &quot; Zum Tanz &quot; with simulated architectural features of a florid character after the fashion of the Veronese ; and his wall paintings in the town-hall, if we can truly judge of them by copies, reveal an artist not unfamiliar with North Italian composition, distribution, action, gesture, and expression. In his drawings too, particularly in a set repre senting the Passion at Basel, the arrangement, and also the perspective, form, and decorative ornament, are in the spirit of the school of Mantegna. Contemporary with these, however, and almost inexplicably in contrast with them as regards handling, are portrait-drawings such as the likenesses of Jacob Meyer and his wife, which are finished with German delicacy, and with a power and subtlety of hand seldom rivalled in any school. Curiously enough, the same contrast maybe observed between painted compositions and painted portraits. The Bonifacius Amerbach of at Basel is acknowledged to be one of the most complete examples of smooth and transparent handling tlmt Holbein ever executed. His versatility at this period is shown &amp;gt;y 