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The portrait drawings of Hans Holbeinthe Younger: function and use exploredthroughmaterials and techniquesA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements of the Royal College of Artfor the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyMay 2013The Royal College of Art/Victoria & AlbertMuseum

Copyright StatementThis text represents the submission for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the RoyalCollege of Art. This copy has been supplied for the purpose of research for private study,on the understanding that it is copyright material, and that no quotation from the thesismay be published without proper acknowledgement.

AbstractThis thesis examines the materials and techniques of sixteenth century artist Hans Holbein theYounger, with particular reference to his portrait drawings. The research reinstates the drawingsas the primary source-material for investigation, thereby demonstrating the link between thematerials and techniques chosen by Holbein, and the function or end-use of the drawings.Although around one hundred Holbein portrait drawings survive, the focus of this research is theeighteen that relate to currently attributed oil and miniature paintings. By focusing the researchin this manner, it is possible to establish how Holbein constructed and used the drawings in thepreparation of the finished oil painting. Furthermore, it explains how his choice and use ofmaterials and techniques can help to establish the original context and function of the drawings.An important outcome of this research is a detailed description of the eighteen drawings thatrelate to a painted portrait. Having developed an effective method of examining and describingHolbein’s drawings, this research provides a thorough analysis of the materials and techniquesused by him. This not only increases our understanding of his drawing processes, but alsobroadens the limitations of traditional connoisseurship by offering a more accessible tool,allowing objective visual analysis of an artist’s technique. This method of investigation can beapplied to drawings in a wider context of sixteenth century artistic production. Moreover, it canalso be used as a potential model for how to effectively ‘read’ a drawing in order to betterunderstand its function and method of production. The results inform art historical andconservation research.A comprehensive, systematic visual examination of the drawings has helped to reveal newinformation on Holbein’s methods and materials, and offers insights into 16th century workshoppractice. In many cases examination has clarified the sequence in which the media was laid down.Holbein’s emphasis on the contours that define sitters’ features has been much disputed, and theirrole, media, and application methods were unclear. What has previously been described asmetalpoint marks were discovered by the author to be indentations, which have become filledwith loose media, thereby giving the appearance of a drawn line. The indentations actually showevidence of tracing of the salient lines that capture likeness for transfer. The research has alsorevealed that red chalk was the preliminary media for defining features, and that Holbeindeveloped standardised techniques for rendering flesh tones, making the drawing process moreefficient. It is apparent that Holbein chose techniques to fulfill a particular role, and that there areclear links between these techniques and their location on a drawing.

Table of ContentsIntroduction .1Chapter One: A Biography of Hans Holbein the Younger and History of the PortraitDrawings.91. 0 Introduction. 91.1 Hans Holbein the Younger: a brief biography. 91.2 Holbein’s portrait drawings: a brief history of their collection and location . 161.3 Holbein’s portrait drawings: history of their housing, including condition andconservation . 241.3.1 Introduction. 241.3.2 Holbein’s portrait drawings: history of their housing and mounting . 251.3.3 Condition of the drawings: historical accounts of their care and conservation . 32Chapter Two: Literature Review and Methodology .452.1 Literature Review . 452.2 Connoisseurship. 512.3 Capturing Likeness. 552.4 Optical Devices. 582.5 Materials and techniques. 602.6 Contours . 632.7 Signs of transfer. 652.8 More recent research . 672.9 Methodology . 70Chapter Three: The Materials and Techniques of Holbein’s Portrait Drawings .843.1 Introduction. 843.2 Holbein’s drawing materials . 853.3 Holbein’s papers. 873.3.1 Watermarks in Holbein’s papers. 883.3.2 Holbein’s unprepared papers . 903.4 A general overview of prepared papers. 923.4.1 Holbein’s early prepared papers . 953.4.2 Holbein’s pink prepared papers . 983.4.3 Composition and reconstruction of Holbein’s pink preparation. 983.4.4 Holbein’s portrait drawings on pink prepared paper. 1003.5 Holbein’s use of paper and parchment as a painting support .1063.6 Holbein’s drawing methods and materials .1113.6.1 Introduction. 1113.6.2 Capturing likeness . 1113.6.3 Holbein’s drawing process: a brief synopsis . 1143.6.4 Holbein’s use of metalpoint for portrait drawing . 1153.6.5 The characteristics of metalpoint . 1163.6.6 Holbein’s portrait drawings in metalpoint . 1173.6.7 The presence of metalpoint on Holbein’s pink prepared paper portraits . 1203.6.8 Erasmus’s hands: an example of Holbein’s metalpoint drawing. 1223.6.9 Chalks . 1243.6.10 A brief introduction to chalks as drawing media . 1243.6.11 Holbein’s use of chalk for portraiture. 1283.6.12 Holbein’s sitters’ eyes . 1343.6.13 A copy and an original: a comparison of techniques . 1353.6.14 Holbein’s use of aqueous media. 1363.7 Transfer techniques.141Chapter Four: The Function of Holbein’s Portrait Drawings. 1474.1 Introduction.1474.2 What is a drawing? .1484.3 Classification of drawings: history and terminology in relation to function .149

4.4 The appearance of Holbein’s portrait drawings: the relationship of materials andtechnique to function.1614.4.1 Holbein’s substrates: the significance of size to function. 1614.4.2 The function of Holbein’s papers. 1704.4.3 Holbein’s pink prepared papers . 1724.4.4 Pink prepared paper: its link to the coloured grounds of panel and miniature painting. 1784.4.5 The function of Holbein’s drawing media: the link to painting. 1834.5 Holbein’s portrait drawings as face patterns: contouring, signs of transfer and thedrawings’ relationship to the underdrawing of paintings .1944.5.1 Holbein’s portrait drawings: function of contours and signs of transfer . 1954.5.2 The function of aqueous black media on Holbein’s drawings . 1984.5.3 Signs of transfer on Holbein’s portrait drawings . 2024.5.4 Drawings and underdrawings: the relationship of one to the other. 205Conclusion. 216Appendix One: Analysis of the watermarks on Holbein’s portrait drawings . 226Appendix Two: Reconstruction of a Pink Preparation . 233Appendix Three: Dürer’s drawing apparatus and some observations following itsreconstruction and use. 236Appendix Four: Tables. 240TABLE 1: Drawing and paintings by Hans Holbein: location & inventory information fordrawings that relate to paintings of the same sitter and constitute the main body of workstudied for thesis.240TABLE 2: Size of drawings and size of paintings .242TABLE 3a: The Watermarks of Holbein’s Portrait Drawings: By Type .243TABLE 3b: The watermarks on Holbein’s drawings: by date .252TABLE 4: Survey of Signs of Transfer on Hans Holbein’s Portrait Drawings.258TABLE 5: Signs of transfer ( * prepared papers).265Table 6: Drawing information.268Table 7: Jacob Meyer zum Hasen (Figure 1) .274Table 8: Dorothea Kannengiesser (Figure 2) .276Table 9: Jacob Meyer zum Hasen (Figure 4) .278Table 10: Dorothea Kannengiesser (Figure 5).279Table 11: Anna Meyer (Figure 6) .280Table 12: Sir Thomas More (Figure 8) .282Table 13: William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury (Figure 10) .284Table 14: Sir Henry Guildford (Figure 12).286Table 15: Lady Mary Guildford (Figure 14).287Table 16: William Reskimer (Figure 16).288Table 17: Charles de Solier, Sieur de Morette (Figure 18) .290Table 18: Unknown Gentleman (Figure 20).292Table 19: Simon George of Quocote (Figure 22).294Table 20: Sir Richard Southwell (Figure 24) .296Table 21: Jane Seymour (Figure 26) .298Table 22: Lady Elizabeth Audley (Figure 28) .300Table 23: Edward, Prince of Wales (Figure 30) .302Bibliography. 303

In Volume II: Images to accompany the textList of FiguresFigure 1: Jacob Meyer zum Hasen, 1516. Hans Holbein the Younger. Basel Kunstmuseum,Kupferstichkabinett. Inv. No: 1823.137Figure 2: Dorothea Kannengiesser 1516. Hans Holbein the Younger, Basel Kunstmuseum,Kupferstichkabinett. Inv. No: 1823.137aFigure 2.1: detailFigure 3: Double Portrait of Jacob Meyer zum Hasen & Dorothea Kannengiesser, 1516.Hans Holbein the Younger. Painting. Basel, Kunstmuseum. Oil on panel. Inv. No: 312Figure 4: Jacob Meyer, c.1526. Hans Holbein the Younger. Basel Kunstmuseum,Kupferstichkabinett. Inv. No: 1823.140Figure 4.1: detailFigure 4.2: detailFigure 4.3: detailFigure 4.4: detailFigure 4.5: detailFigure 4.6: detailFigure 5: Dorothea Kannengiesser, c.1526. Hans Holbein the Younger, BaselKunstmuseum, Kupferstichkabinett. Inv. No: 1823.141Figure 5.1: detail

Figure 5.2: detailFigure 5.3: detailFigure 6: Anna Meyer, c.1526. Hans Holbein the Younger. Basel Kunstmuseum,Kupferstichkabinett. Inv. No: 1823.142Figure 6.1: detailFigure 6.2: detailFigure 7: Darmstadt Madonna ,1526-1528. Hans Holbein the Younger. Formerly ondisplay at the Städel Museum as a loan, Frankfurt. Oil on panel.Figure 7.1: detailFigure 8: Sir Thomas More, 1527. Hans Holbein the Younger. The Royal Collection, TheRoyal Library, Windsor. Inv. No: RL12268Figure 8.1: detailFigure 8.2: detailFigure 8.3: detailFigure 9: Sir Thomas More, 1527. Hans Holbein the Younger. The Frick Collection. Oil onpanel. Inv. No: 1921.1.77Figure 9.1: detail

Figure 10: William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1527. Hans Holbein the Younger.The Royal Collection, The Royal Library, Windsor. Inv. No: RL12272Figure 10.1: detailFigure 10.2: detailFigure 10.3: detailFigure 10.4: detailFigure 10.5: detailFigure 11: William Warham, 1527, Hans Holbein the Younger. Musée du Louvre, Paris.Oil on panel. Inv. No: 1344Figure 12: Sir Henry Guildford, 1527, The Royal Collection, The Royal Library, WindsorCastle. Inv. No: RL12266Figure 13: Sir Henry Guildford, 1527. The Royal Collection, Windsor Castle. Oil on panel.Inv. No: RCIN.400046Figure.14: Lady Mary Guildford, 1527 Basel Kunstmuseum, Kupferstichkabinett. Inv. No:1662.35Figure 14.1: detailFigure 15: Lady Mary Guildford, 1527. Hans Holbein the Younger. Saint Louis ArtMuseum. Oil on panel. Inv. No: 1:1943

Figure 16: William Reskimer, c.1533. Hans Holbein the Younger. The Royal Collection,The Royal Library, Windsor Castle. Inv. No: RL12237Figure 17: William Reskimer, c.1533, Hans Holbein the Younger. The Royal Collection,Hampton Court. Oil on panel. Inv. No: RCIN.404422Figure 18: Charles de Solier, Sieur de Morette, 1534/35. Hans Holbein the Younger.Staaliche Kunstsammlungen, Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden. Inv. No: C1977-156Figure 18.1: detailFigure 18.2: detailFigure 18.3: detailFigure 18.4: detailFigure 18.5: detailFigure 18.6: detailFigure 19: Charles de Solier, Sieur de Morette, 1534/35. Hans Holbein the Younger.Staaliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden. Oil on panel. Inv.No: 1890Figure 19.1: detailFigure 20: Unknown Gentleman, (Parker 33), 1535. Hans Holbein the Younger. The RoyalCollection, The Royal Library, Windsor Castle. Inv. No: RL12259Figure 20.1: detail