Hans Holbein the Younger and studio, Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VI) (detail), about 1538. Oil paint on panel; 22 3/4 × 17 in. (57.8 × 43.2 cm). Denver Art Museum: Gift of the Berger Collection Educational Trust, 2021.23
Holbein’s Wit
Hans Holbein the Younger is renowned as an outstandingly realistic painter—the acme of Renaissance naturalism. In fact, he was a purveyor of wit and artifice. This lecture will reveal the Tudor artist at play, juggling the paradoxes that arise in the art of portraiture. Examining some of Holbein's most famous paintings—including The Ambassadors, Erasmus of Rotterdam, and the DAM’s own Prince Edward—renowned art historian Alexander Marr will discuss the artist’s visual jokes and serious meditations on identity, mortality, and invention.
Alexander Marr is Professor of Renaissance and Early Modern Art, and Head of the Department of History of Art, at the University of Cambridge. A leading expert on Renaissance art, literature, and the sciences, his latest book is Holbein’s Wit: Pictorial Ingenuity in Renaissance Art.
The BCET Lecture Series presents talks on American and European art from the 15th through the 19th centuries by leading scholars. Series funding is generously provided by the Berger Collection Educational Trust.
