Holbein at the Tudor Court

(Paperback)

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Description

Holbein at the Tudor Court focuses on the internationally significant collection of portraits by Hans Holbein the Younger in the Royal Collection. These portraits, in drawing, miniature and painting, date almost exclusively from Holbein's period as the pre-eminent artist at the court of Henry VIII.

This richly illustrated publication has essays on the artist, his sitters and on the history of his work in the Royal Collection, and a series of entries on individual works - looking at both on the work of art and on the identity of the sitter featured, and uses, where possible voices from the period (as found in letters, poems, administrative records and diplomatic accounts) to bring alive the world of the sixteenth-century English court.

Reviews

"Fans of Hans Holbein will also be delighted with this book, as it showcases dozens of his works held by the Royal Collection Trust. The opening section also gives a good account of his life and how Holbein came to work in England. The book will also be of interest to those who study Tudor-era England more broadly."-- "Medievalists.net"
"Heard provides a thorough account of the eventful history of Holbein's portrait album. . . Heard acknowledges the inspiration provided by the touring exhibition Holbein and the Court of Henry VIII (1993) and the wisdom and guidance of its curator, the late Jane Roberts, Librarian and Curator of the Print Room at Windsor. The present work is a welcome successor to that project"-- "Journal of the History of Collections"
"Dr Kate Heard's catalogue is scholarly, accessible, and extremely well illustrated."-- "The Critic"
"Accompanying an exceptional exhibition of Hans Holbein the Younger's drawings at the Queen's Gallery in London, is a small catalogue written by the show's curator, Kate Heard. Holbein's paintings are delightful, but his preparatory drawings of the same sitters are genuinely moving, such is their realism and intimacy, transporting us back almost 500 years. There are profiles of the sitters--the Tudor period's movers and shakers--but where the catalogue is more interesting is in its details of Holbein's methods (embellishing certain cheekbones) or things you may have missed ('a touch of greenish watercolour in the eyes')."-- "The Art Newspaper, top art books of 2023"

Author Bio

Kate Heard is Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings, Royal Collection Trust. Her previous publications include George IV: Art and Spectacle (2019), The First Georgians: Art & Monarchy (2014) and High Spirits: The Comic Art of Thomas Rowlandson (2013).