Henry VIII Portrait Paintings - By: tomgurney

There have been many skilled portrait painters over the past few centuries and this art genre has always been highly respected as a technical discipline as well as providing valuable visual clues to the lives of a great number of people from past years where otherwise a lot less may have been known. One of the best portrait painters from the 16th century came from Germany and was known as Hans Holbein the Younger, following closely in the footsteps of his father, the Elder who was a respected artist himself. This article examines some of Hans Holbein's best paintings and explains his role with in the UK where much of his best work was created.

Henry VIII is one of England's most famous Kings in it's exciting history and this King was someone who liked to capture his own importance in art, such as with most noble British people around this time. With a lack of photography and modern media, painters were very helpful in capturing their image for future generations and so skilled portrait painters like Hans Holbein were very valuable. Once the artist had proven himself, there was a flurry of commissioned offered to him as a result of the backing given to him by Henry VIII in choosing him for his own official portraits.

The success of Hans Holbein has meant that many of his paintings are popular choices as fine art reproductions for those who want to add his best work to the walls of their own homes. The most common choices with an artist of this traditional styles tend to be fine art prints, with framed options being more expensive but better representing this type of art. There is a large number of paintings from the career of Hans Holbein, going far beyond just those few mentioned most commonly.

In summary, German art has played an important role in the development of ideas since the Middle Ages, with important contributions in several different art genres, over many centuries. Hans Holbein was an artist who really excelled as a portrait painter and this ability received critical acclaim that led to some highly impressive commissions from leading members of the English Royal Family, as it was back in the 16th century. Hans Holbein was to move to the UK and set up base here, building an impressive reputation for his portraits, many of which can now be found in the National Gallery of London.

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There is even more about artist Hans Holbein at Hansholbein.net which includes a gallery of his paintings. The Holbein Henry VIII painting is specifically discussed here.

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