Project

Holbein: Capturing Character

Division of Public Programs

Oil painting of Erasmus of Rotterdam by Holbein
Photo caption

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98-1543)(and workshop?)
Erasmus of Rotterdam, ca. 1532
Oil on panel 
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Robert Lehman Collection; 1975.1.138

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Holbein: Capturing Character is the first major exhibition dedicated to Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98-1543) in the United States. Hans Holbein the Younger was among the most skilled artists of the early 1500s, creating captivating portraits and serving as a court painter to Tudor King Henry VIII.  

The exhibition spans Holbein’s entire career, beginning with his early years in Basel. In addition to Holbein’s renowned drawn and painted portraits, the exhibition highlights Holbein’s activities as a designer of prints, printed books, personal devices, and jewels.

Hans Holbein: Capturing Character was organized by the Morgan Library & Museum in New York and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.  

Hans Holbein: Capturing Character “shows us the sobering reality of raw power,” according to the Washington Post.  Read reviews of the exhibition in the Wall Street Journal and the New Yorker.