During the end of the fifteenth century and at the beginning of the sixteenth century lived one of the greatest portrait artists of all time. His name is Hans Holbein and was part of what is called the Northern Renaissance. He was born into a family of artists with his father, uncle, and older brother all artists. Hans Holbein is referred to as "the younger" because his father's name is also Hans Holbein, and he is referred to as "the elder."

Holbein the younger was born in the winter of either 1497 or 1498 in a very wealthy city called Augsburg, Germany. At an early age he began to study painting with his father, who was also a recognized artist of the portraits. In the year 1515 when Hans the younger was around 17 or 18 years old he moved away from his family and established himself in Basel, Switzerland as a book illustrator. His work in Basel during the decade of 1515 to 1525 was extremely varied and sometimes derived from another's work. It was during this decade that Holbein made a trip to Italy, and there he ran into the works of the Italian Renaissance painters like Leonardo da Vinci. The impact of these and other artists on Holbein's work can be seen in the portraits of

With the money that Holbein made in England, he was destined to return back to Basel, Switzerland a second time and buy a house. In Basel he finished portraits and murals (also called frescoes) of an unfinished work which he had done earlier for the Council Chamber of the Town Hall. The reflections of these frescoes reflected his continuing growth as an artist because one could see the dramatic impact of his new scenes on his earlier ones. Holbein was the type of artist who improved every step along the way. Unfortunately none of his frescoes there in Switzerland survived along with others in England and Germany. Their beauty is judged from his sketches and cartoons, and copies of other frescoes made by later artists. Also in Basel, Holbein painted his only psychologically penetrating portrait. This was of his wife and two sons. In spite of generous offers from Basel, Holbein left his wife and children in that city for a second time to spend the last eleven years of his life primarily in England. The family's reaction to his departure is portrayed in this painting with sadness and emotion expressed on their faces. Holbein could not make a living in Switzerland; therefore, he left for England a second time.

Regardless of Holbein's early prestige, however, he was forced to go to England because he was dissatisfied with the patronage in Switzerland, and it was difficult for him to work there because of the Reformation. The Swiss were experiencing Protestantism and it grew considerably in strength and importance during Holbein's later 20's. Holbein's works during this period consisted of religious figures for the Protestant world to interpret. However, there were several iconoclastic riots, and strict censorship of the press swept over the city, which caused a sort of freezing of the arts in Switzerland. This led Holbein to depart for England. Arriving in 1526 with letters of introduction from Erasmus, now his

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