The Ambassadors: The Mysteries of Holbein’s Masterpiece | HENI Talks

Today, HENI Talks is presented by art historian Susan Foister. Who were the two wealthy, educated and powerful-looking young gentlemen in Hans Holbein the Younger’s vast masterpiece? In 1890, when the National Gallery acquired what has become one of their most popular paintings, no one was quite sure. They were also uncertain of what was meant by the array of cryptically arranged objects across the canvas– amongst them, a lute with a snapped string, a book of arithmetic, and a strange white form dominating the foreground that, when viewed at a particular angle, reveals itself to be a startling skull. We now know that the men represent ambassadors Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve. However, the painting, wrought by King Henry VIII’s court painter in 1533, still holds many mysteries. Join Foister at the gallery to decode some of the symbols in Holbein’s canvas which could point to the societal turmoil incited by the notorious Tudor King. 🎥 Presented by HENI Talks — films that bring art, design, and architecture to life. 🔔 Subscribe for more films on art, architecture, and culture:    / @henitalks   👍 Like, comment, and share to support our work! 🌐 Learn more: Web — https://heni.com/ Instagram —   / heni   TikTok —   / heni   X — https://x.com/heni Produced by HENI Talks Creative Commons and Crediting Additional Links: Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan, in Mourning Hans Holbein the Younger, c.1538 Collection of the National Gallery © The National Gallery, London, 2018 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... An Allegory of the Old and New Testaments Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533–1535 National Galleries of Scotland Purchased by Private Treaty with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the National Heritage Purchase Grant (Scotland), 1981 Photographer: Antonia Reeve https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art... #Painting #Holbein #HENITalks