AMBASSADORS
- Seda DOGAN DEMIREL
- 11 hours ago
- 6 min read
Date: 1533
Artist: Young Hans Holbein
Art Movement/Period: Northern Renaissance
Exhibited at: The National Gallery, London
Hans Holbein's The Ambassadors: Power, Faith, and Mortality in 16th-Century Europe
Considered one of the most accomplished portrait painters of the sixteenth century, this magnificent portrait by Hans Holbein appears at first glance to depict two wealthy, educated, and powerful young men. Exhibited at the National Gallery in London, this work contains riddles, each detail pointing to multiple meanings.
The Silent Political World of the Work
Before interpreting this work, it is necessary to understand the political world in which Holbein lived and his complex life story. The painting was created during a period of religious turmoil in Europe. The real mystery lies not in the people in the painting, but in the objects surrounding them. The objects on the table allude to the political complexities of the time.
Holbein painted this picture during his second trip to England in the early 1530s. We know it was made in 1533 because of his signature and the date he inscribed on the marble floor behind the figure on the left.
Around the same time, the Catholic Church refused to annul the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. A conflict arose between the King and the Roman Catholic Church. Ignoring papal authority, Henry VIII divorced Catherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn. Shortly afterward, their daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, was born (although the King had hoped for a son). A year later, the King separated the Church of England from Rome and declared himself its head. Many blamed Anne Boleyn for bewitching King Henry and causing the schism.
Henry's break with the Catholic Church further destabilized an already fragile political and religious order in Europe. Henry, King Francis I of France, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and the Pope were on the brink of war. Followers of Martin Luther, who challenged the absolute authority of the Church, were gaining strength beyond Northern Europe. Henry's separation from the Catholic Church paved the way for the Reformation and humanist thought to enter England.
Ambassadors: Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve
The severing of religious and political ties with Catholic Europe was a cause for concern for King Francis I of France. The man on the left is Jean de Dinteville , Francis's envoy . The King had tasked him with reporting on the situation in England. Dinteville, one of Francis's most trusted courtiers, also attended the wedding on behalf of the King. This was his second diplomatic mission to England.
The man on the right is his close friend, Georges de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, who served as an envoy to the Republic of Venice and the Holy See . Selve was also on a diplomatic mission, though the exact nature of this is unknown. De Selve spent much of his career trying to halt the rise of the Lutheran Reformation and reunify the Catholic Church. He may have been on a similar mission in London. Both men were in their early twenties when the painting was made. Latin inscriptions on the scabbard of Dinteville's sword and on the edge of the book Georges is leaning against reveal their ages to be 29 and 25 respectively (“aetatis suae 25”, meaning “he is 25 years old”).
Dinteville was obliged to stay in London for Anne's coronation in June and the birth of Henry and Anne's daughter Elizabeth in September, as Elizabeth's godfather was King Francis I of France. Surviving correspondence reveals Dinteville's profound unhappiness during this extended visit. He described himself as "the most melancholic, weary, and exhausting ambassador in the world." However, his friend's brief visit to London from April to June had cheered him up. This portrait commemorates their friendship and their short time together in England. The ambassadors stand on a floor decorated with meticulously crafted geometric patterns, reminiscent of the floor of Westminster Abbey, only a mile from the National Gallery. Holbein separates the two men by placing a table between them, but also provides them with a support to lean against, thus achieving a natural posture.
The work also showcases Holbein's mastery of composition and his ability to depict three-dimensional forms using oil paint. He worked with such meticulous realism that he draws the viewer's attention to material things rather than religion or allegory.
The Language of Objects: Symbols on Shelves
Renaissance portraits frequently featured objects such as musical instruments, coins, books, or flowers. These objects enriched the portrait by alluding to the depicted person's pursuits, intellectual world, culture, and religious attitudes. The objects depicted here have been interpreted as a visual representation of the religious and political turmoil of mid-16th-century Europe. The objects on the top shelf are related to the celestial realm. On the far left is a celestial globe showing the positions of stars and planets. The multifaceted box-shaped object with dials on each face is a polyhedral clock, a type of sundial. The sundial shows 10:30 on April 11, 1533; this date corresponds to Good Friday of that year and has been interpreted as the Pope metaphorically crucifying Henry VIII in response to the threat of annulling his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Such instruments were made by Nicholas Kratzer, Henry VIII's court astronomer. These kinds of technical tools were extremely valuable, and their inclusion in the painting underscores the two men's knowledge of mathematics and science.
The lower shelf is largely devoted to music. Below it is Peter Apian's book , *A New and Reliable Instruction of Calculation for Merchants* . A page relating to mathematical division is an arithmetic book held open with a set square. This is a clear reference to the religious schism that tore Europe apart. Another concrete reference is a lute with its case upside down on the floor, one of its strings broken. The broken string also alludes to discord within the church. Below the lute's neck, a Lutheran hymn book is placed on top of a group of flutes (one of which is missing, implying a lack of harmony). The writing and sheet music are legible, revealing that Holbein specifically chose to highlight these two pages from the Lutheran hymn book.
These hymns are “Holy Spirit, Come” and “The Ten Commandments.” It is possible that Georges wanted to include them because they express Christian unity. The globe on this shelf is earth-related. On the globe, the hamlet of Polisy, where the Castle of Dinteville is located, about 200 kilometers southeast of Paris, is seen. This painting also hung in the Castle of Dinteville, that is, here. An inventory from 1589 corroborates this.
Holbein, in immortalizing these two ambassadors in the painting, also reminds the viewer of the humanity of the depicted figures. Alongside the dual compatibility in the work, the contrast in the personalities of the two figures is also reflected. Dinteville stands like a man of action, clutching his dagger, while Selve is seen resting his arm on a book. This gesture reveals his interest in a more intellectual nature.
Anamorphic Skull and Memento Mori
During the Renaissance, epidemics of deadly diseases like the plague were widespread in Europe, wiping out a large portion of the population. Therefore, death was a far more visible reality for everyone alive. (Holbein himself died of the plague in London in 1543.) Artworks from this period were often commissioned to remind us of the fragility of life, a memento mori , and prominently featured the symbol of death. In the painting "The Ambassadors," when viewed from a certain angle, an elongated anamorphic skull is visible between the feet of the two men. The fact that this figure is a skull seems quite audacious for a politically contradictory period. Dinteville probably hung the work near a door or staircase in his castle, so that the viewer passing by would encounter the face of death. Indeed, Dinteville's personal motto was "remember that you will die."
Similarly, there is a cross hidden in the upper left corner of the image. This symbolizes the hope of salvation in the resurrected Christ, and says that there is no need to fear death.
In this case, we can see the objects close to the ground as reminders of human mortality. The objects on the middle shelf, on the other hand, can be seen as representations of bodily and sensory pursuits—that is, adventure, discovery, and joy. As we look towards the upper parts of the canvas, the objects and symbols establish closer connections with the sky. They symbolize the mind and intellectual pursuits.
Reference:
The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein the Younger, NationalGallery.uk
Julia Fiore, Decoding the Symbolism in Hans Holbein's “Ambassadors” , Artsy.net
Th e Ambassadors, Google Arts and Culture
Cristopher W. Tayler, Leonardo's Skull and the Complex Symbolism of Holbein's “Ambassadors”
Comments