The Reformation in Switzerland, with the violent passions it aroused, made painting a precarious means of livelihood. Theological disputes agitated Basle from end to end, and the lower classes of the community were given over to disorder and discontent. Disturbances were of continual occurrence, culminating in the so-called Peasants’ War. Privilege after privilege was wrested from the nobility and the great churchmen, and very many of the pictures, images, and decorations in the churches were wrecked by the fury of the mob in the fight for religious freedom. The Town Council was no longer in a position to encourage the development of the fine arts, and the Basle painters had a very hard struggle to live, and were glad of trivial employment, which in better times they would have scorned. Holbein, too, had married, about 1520, Elsbeth Schmidt, the widow of a tanner with one son, and had a young family of his own, so that he found it increasingly difficult to make both ends meet. He therefore thought seriously of visiting England in quest of work, probably at the suggestion of Erasmus, who had many friends and correspondents there. Holbein had painted his portrait more than once. One of the finest of them, sent by the learned humanist to Sir Thomas More, was probably the one now in Longford Castle (see illustration, and p. 50), dated 1523. A second example is the fine profile now in the Louvre. Erasmus wrote to Sir Thomas More about the artist, and More, in his reply, promised to do what he could for him when he came.
Holbein left Basle towards the end of August, 1526, and journeyed to England by way of Antwerp, where in all probability he made a short stay, reaching London about November. He was received with much kindness by Sir Thomas More, then Speaker of the House of Commons, and holding other high offices; and, according to tradition, remained as More’s guest at his country house at Chelsea during the whole time of his first English visit. He seems to have confined his practice as a portrait painter entirely to Sir Thomas More’s family and his immediate circle of friends, which was a large and learned one, embracing many of the leading churchmen, statesmen, and scholars of the day. More does not appear to have made him known to the King, although it is probable that Henry, who frequently visited the Speaker at Chelsea, and was a great patron of the fine arts, must have become acquainted, even as early as this, with Holbein’s work.
In 1527 he painted Sir Thomas’s portrait, the picture now in the possession of Mr. Edward Huth. In the same year he painted William Wareham, Archbishop of Canterbury. Two examples of this portrait exist, both by Holbein, at Lambeth Palace and in the Louvre, and two fine drawings, in the British Museum and at Windsor. Other portraits of 1527 are those of Sir Henry Guildford, the Lord Chamberlain (Windsor); his wife, Lady Guildford (Mr. Frewen’s collection); Sir Brian Tuke (Munich and the Duke of Westminster); John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, whose finished portrait is lost, but for which two fine sketches still exist (Windsor and the British Museum); and several undated works, such as the portrait of Sir Henry Wyatt (Louvre), were probably painted in this year. In 1528 he produced the fine portrait of Nicholas Kratzer, the King’s Astronomer (Louvre), and Thomas and John Godsalve, of Norwich, on one panel (Dresden).
The most important work which he undertook at this time has, unfortunately, disappeared. This was the large portrait group of Sir Thomas More and His Family. Several versions of it still exist, of which the one at Nostell Priory is the most important, but not one of them is a genuine work of Holbein’s. Happily, the very beautiful sketch for the whole composition is to-day one of the chief treasures of the Basle Museum. It was taken to Switzerland by the artist as a present from Sir Thomas to Erasmus. Several fine studies for the heads of the sitters have also been preserved (Windsor collection).
Mention must be made of another important undertaking with which there is good reason to believe that Holbein had much to do. Early in 1527 French Ambassadors were in London negotiating for an alliance between England and France. The signing of this treaty was celebrated at Greenwich on May 5, with much ceremonious festivity, concluding with a supper in a specially built banqueting-house. One of the chief painters engaged in the internal decoration of this building was a certain “Master Hans,” a title by which Holbein was well known; and, common as this Christian name was in Germany, no trace has ever yet been found of any other artist named Hans then working in England except Holbein. The official direction of the building and decorating of this temporary hall was in the hands of Sir Henry Guildford, and it would be natural for him to turn to the craftsman of whose artistic powers he had full knowledge. It was the kind of work, too, for which Holbein was already celebrated in Switzerland. He appears to have been appointed to supervise the numerous painters employed, and frequent mention is made of “Master Hans and his company” (Calendar of State Papers, 1526-1528). By March 2 “Master Hans” had left Greenwich, and was busily engaged in London upon a large “plat,” or picture, of The Battle of Spurs. He had finished this in a month, and was paid £4 10s. for it. This picture was fixed on the back of an arch which divided the banqueting-hall from the gallery leading to the ball-room. Considering the occasion for which it was painted, the subject was rather a cruel one, representing as it did the putting to rout of a large body of mounted Frenchmen by a handful of English cavalry; but it greatly tickled King Henry’s fancy, and he made a point of drawing the attention of the Ambassadors to it. This picture has disappeared.
RETURN TO BASLE.
Holbein was back in Basle in the summer of 1528. Possibly he was recalled by the Town Council, under penalty of losing his rights of citizenship if he disobeyed. On August 29 he purchased for 300 florins a house overlooking the Rhine, and on March 30, 1531, he also bought the adjoining house for 70 florins, thus proving that his English visit had been far from fruitless. He remained in Basle for four years, but the only important work upon which he was engaged was the completion of his Town Hall decorations. The Town Council requested him to finish the “back wall,” and he covered it with two fine compositions, The Meeting of Samuel and Saul, and Rehoboam, the preliminary sketches for which are now in the Basle Museum. He was engaged upon this work during the latter half of 1530.
Basle was still torn by religious dissensions, but the party of the Reformation now held the upper hand. A furious outbreak in 1529 led to the further destruction of religious paintings and sculpture. Even Holbein did not escape at least minor persecution for his religious principles. On June 18, 1530, he was, in conjunction with a number of his fellow-citizens, called upon to explain why he had not taken part in the communion service instituted by the Basle Church after the abolition of the Catholic creed in the previous year. He cautiously replied that before approaching the Lord’s Table he desired the signification of the holy mystery to be more clearly explained to him; and this seems to have been done, as he did not persist in his refusal. Beyond the Town Hall decorations he does not seem to have found much profitable work to do. He painted a portrait of his wife and two children (Basle Museum) and a new portrait of Erasmus in 1530, the small round one now at Basle, the original source of a number of copies at Parma, Turin, and elsewhere. There was little opportunity, however, for him to follow his art with adequate success, and his thoughts naturally turned once more towards England. He came back to this country in 1532, probably without informing the Basle authorities of his intention. They sent a very flattering letter after him, offering him a fixed salary if he would return, but he does not appear to have taken any immediate notice of this suggestion.
SECOND RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND.
During Holbein’s absence Sir Thomas More had become Lord Chancellor, but this office he relinquished in May, 1532, and was gradually falling out of favour with the King. Holbein did not take up his residence in Chelsea again, but settled in London, near the large colony of German and Netherlandish merchants then forming an important part of the commercial life of the capital. These merchants of the Hanseatic League formed a close corporation among themselves, and in their midst Holbein now made his home. Their place of meeting was called the Steelyard, and here their warehouses and residences were grouped round the hall of the guild, with its trim garden and special wineshop. Among them the artist found not only the language and habits of his own country, but also plenty of well-paid employment.