Comments on: The Ambassadors (Hans Holbein the Younger)

By: Di Martin

Di Martin — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:40:01 +0000

I too have greatly enjoyed the book “Portrait of an Unknown Woman”, have enjoyed constantly referring back to the paintings on this website.

By: Mary Catherine

Mary Catherine — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:36:29 +0000

There’s a very interesting fictional re-creation of Holbein’s process of creating this painting in the historical novel “Portrait of an Unknown Woman” by Vanora Bennett, about Thomas More’s family, particularly his adopted daughter Meg Giggs, and their relationship with Holbein.

By: Tals stagg

Tals stagg — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:59:24 +0000

this is not the right way to submit an artical about the painting. YoU MENTION THE ART WORKS BUT YET DO NOT SUGGEST THE SYMBOLISM

By: Bob Engberg

Bob Engberg — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:26:44 +0000

The painting of the Ambassadors was originally displayed at the top of a stairway and the skull would have appeared “norma;” to viewers coming up the stairs. When in front of the painting it takes it slanted shape while the rest of the painting appears normal.

By: Jesper Svedberg

Jesper Svedberg — Thu, 11 May 2006 13:37:38 +0000

I saw a TV show a couple of years ago where this painting featured. The show was about how a lot of old painters (Caravaggio for instance) used lenses to project the scene they were painting on the canvas. They claimed that the skull in “The Ambassadors” must have been projected on a slanting canvas.
It was an interesting show.

By: Jeff Hayes

Jeff Hayes — Wed, 10 May 2006 03:57:58 +0000

I’ve always been a little surprised that he didn’t seek out a way to more organically integrate the skull shape into the composition as seen head-on, which makes me wonder if he added it at a later date. What’s striking is that when viewed at the point where the skull resolves to it’s proper shape, it appears to have roughly the same scale as the heads of the ambassadors - print out the image and try it!