Hans Holbein: Paintings, Prints, and Reception
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Hans Holbein: Paintings, Prints, and Reception Details
From the Publisher Studies in the History of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts Read more About the Author The late Mark Roskill was professor of art history at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. John Oliver Hand is curator of Northern Renaissance painting at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Read more
Reviews
A book that should have been made more accessible and should be reissued because of the number of important essays it contains. They provide important reconsiderations of and insights into the works of this painter, draftsman and correspondent to the many important literary and philosophical figures of his time who were his sitters. The varied authors of the essays (originally lectures) uncover numerous revelations found in Holbein's oeuvre. This artist, who has not been given enough attention in the U.S., who gave historians the images that enliven our understanding of the court of Henry VIII as well as visual evidence on the sciences, culture and politics of the period, was in modern terms "a game changer". Required reading for anyone interested in, studying or writing novels on the British scene under Henry's reign when he turned the world upside down and changed the direction of religion and rule on the continent as well as his small island. But art historians especially, will find essays not noted in most data bases that must be taken into account because the distinguished authors offer the reader new perspectives on individual works of Holbein that have not been previously made visible.
