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Holbein: Capturing Character at The Morgan Library & Museum, February 11- May 15, 2022

“The Morgan Library & Museum proudly presents Holbein: Capturing Character, opening February 11, 2022, and running through May 15, 2022. Co-organized with the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, this marks the first major U.S. exhibition dedicated to the art of Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98–1543). The Morgan’s display will feature around sixty objects from over twenty lenders across the globe, including thirty-one paintings and drawings by Holbein himself. 

Hans Holbein the Younger was among the most skilled, versatile, and inventive European artists of the sixteenth century. He created captivating portraits of courtiers, merchants, scholars, and statesmen in Basel, Switzerland, and later in England, and served as a court painter to King Henry VIII (1491–1547). Enriched by inscriptions, insignia, and evocative attributes, his portraits not only conveyed truthful likenesses but also celebrated the individuals’ identities, values, aspirations, and achievements.” — The Morgan Library & Museum

The Morgan’s Director, Colin B. Bailey, said, “We are extraordinarily excited to bring a Hans Holbein the Younger exhibition of this magnitude to the Morgan in partnership with the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. This multi-disciplinary show, with its exceptional loans, is the first of its kind in the United States; it will give museum goers the opportunity to experience first-hand signal examples from the career of one of the most engaging artists of the European Renaissance.”  

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 – 1543). Erasmus of Rotterdam, ca. 1532. Oil on panel. Diam.: 5 9/16 in. (14.2 cm). Kunstmuseum Basel, 324
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 – 1543). Sir Thomas More, 1527. Oil on panel, 29 1/2 x 23 3/4 in. (74.9 x 60.3 cm). The Frick Collection, New York, 1912.1.77. Photo: Michael Bodycomb
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 – 1543). Terminus, Device of Erasmus of Rotterdam, ca. 1532. Oil on panel, 8 1/2 × 8 1/2 in. (21.6 × 21.6 cm). Cleveland Museum of Art, 1971.166
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 – 1543). A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling (Anne Lovell?), ca. 1526 – 28. Oil on panel, 29 3/4 × 23 1/6 ×4 1/16 in. (75.5 × 58.5 10.3 cm). National Gallery, London, NG6540 © The National Gallery, London
Hans Lützelburger (1495? – 1526), after designs by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 – 1543). Les simulachres & historiees faces de la mort, Lyon: Melchior and Gaspar Trechsel for Jean and François Frellon, 1538. 7 1/16 in. (18 cm). The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, PML 2113, folios G1v-2r. Photography by Janny Chiu
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 – 1543). Simon George, ca. 1535 – 40. Mixed technique on panel, 12 3/16 in. (31 cm). Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, 1065. Photo: Städel Museum
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 – 1543), Simon George, ca. 1535. Black and colored chalks, pen and brush and black ink, and metalpoint on pink prepared paper, 11 × 7 1/2 in. (27.9 × 19.1 cm). Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, RCIN 912208 Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2022
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 – 1543). An Allegory of Passion, ca. 1532 – 36. Oil on panel, 17 7/8 × 17 7/8 in. (45.4 × 45.4 cm). The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 80.PB.72
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 – 1543). Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, 1532 – 33. Black and colored chalks, and pen and black ink on pink prepared paper, 9 7/8 × 8 1/16 in. (25.1 × 20.5 cm). Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, RCIN 912215 Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2022

Images courtesy The Morgan Library & Museum.

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