Solothurn Madonna

Last updated

Solothurn Madonna
Hans Holbein d. J. 010.jpg
Artist Hans Holbein the Younger
Year1522
MediumOil on limewood
Dimensions143,5 cm× 104,9 cm(565 in× 413 in)
Location Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Solothurn
Detail of the Madonna, between the first restoration of 1866 and the second of 1971. Solothurner Madonna Detail nach erster Rest.jpg
Detail of the Madonna, between the first restoration of 1866 and the second of 1971.
Elisabeth and her children Philipp and Katharina, a 1528 painting by Holbein Retrato de la esposa del artista con sus dos hijos, por Hans Holbein el Joven.jpg
Elisabeth and her children Philipp and Katharina, a 1528 painting by Holbein
Holbein's drawing of a young woman, 1520-1522, probably a model for the Solothurn Madonna. Hans Holbein d. J. junge Frau.jpg
Holbein's drawing of a young woman, 1520-1522, probably a model for the Solothurn Madonna.
The Martinskirche in Basel, probably the original home of the Solothurn Madonna Martinskirche Basel.jpg
The Martinskirche in Basel, probably the original home of the Solothurn Madonna

The Solothurn Madonna is a 1522 painting produced by Hans Holbein the Younger in Basel. It shows the Virgin Mary and Christ enthroned, flanked by Martin of Tours (shown as a bishop giving alms to a beggar) and Ursus of Solothurn (shown as a soldier in armour). Holbein used his wife Elsbeth as his model for the Madonna, and the baby "may well have been modelled on Holbein and Elsbeth's baby son Philipp." [1]

Contents

The church which originally commissioned it is unknown, [2] but it resurfaced in 1864 in poor condition in the Allerheiligenkapelle in the Grenchen district of Solothurn. It has been owned by the town of Solothurn since 1879, and it has been named after the town since the late 19th century. It is kept in the Solothurn Art Museum. After the Darmstadt Madonna, the Solothurn Madonna is the second largest surviving Madonna by Hans Holbein the Younger.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Holbein the Elder</span> German painter

Hans Holbein the Elder was a German painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambrosius Holbein</span> Swiss painter

Ambrosius Holbein was a German and later a Swiss artist in painting, drawing, and printmaking. He was the elder brother, by about three years, of Hans Holbein the Younger, but he appears to have died in his mid-twenties, leaving behind only a small body of work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Holbein the Younger</span> German artist and printmaker

Hans Holbein the Younger was a German-Swiss people painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire, and Reformation propaganda, and he made a significant contribution to the history of book design. He is called "the Younger" to distinguish him from his father Hans Holbein the Elder, an accomplished painter of the Late Gothic school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oswald Myconius</span> Swiss theologian

Oswald Myconius was Swiss Protestant theologian and Protestant reformer. He was a follower of Huldrych Zwingli.

<i>The Ambassadors</i> (Holbein) 1533 painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

The Ambassadors is a 1533 painting by Hans Holbein the Younger. Also known as Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve, after the two people it portrays, it was created in the Tudor period, in the same year Elizabeth I was born. Franny Moyle speculates that Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, then Queen of England, might have commissioned the painting as a gift for Jean de Dinteville, the ambassador portrayed on the left in the painting. As well as being a double portrait, the painting contains a still life of several meticulously rendered objects, the meaning of which is the cause of much debate. It also incorporates one of the best-known examples of anamorphosis in painting. The Ambassadors has been part of London's National Gallery collection since its purchase in 1890.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kunstmuseum Basel</span> Art museum in Basel, Switzerland

The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a heritage site of national significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Howard</span> Fifth wife of Henry VIII of England (c. 1524–1542)

Catherine Howard, also spelt Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1541 as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn, and the niece of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Thomas Howard was a prominent politician at Henry's court, and he secured her a place in the household of Henry's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, where she caught the King's interest. She married him on 28 July 1540 at Oatlands Palace in Surrey, just 19 days after the annulment of his marriage to Anne. He was 49, and she was between 15 and 21 years old.

<i>The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb is an oil and tempera on limewood painting created by the German artist and printmaker Hans Holbein the Younger between 1520 and 1522.

<i>Venus and Amor</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

Venus and Amor is painting by the so-called "Venus Painter" of Hans Holbein the Youngers workshop and is conserved in the Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland. It was assumed for a long time to be painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, but research showed that this could not be possible. It was discovered that the painter had used a sort of a carbon paper with the contours of the already existing Laïs and used it to transfer those contours in reverse on the new portrait he was to paint of Venus. As the portrait of Laïs is dated with 1526, the year of Hans Holbeins departure from Basel, it is assumed that the work has been painted between 1526 and 1528, the years Holbein stayed in London. The painting depicts the Roman goddess of love, Venus, with her son Amor (Cupid) and the model is believed to be either Magdalena Offenburg or her daughter Dorothea. They are shown in front of a large hanging green curtain and behind a low parapet. Venus is depicted with an open gesture and sincere gaze. Cupid is seen climbing onto the parapet while holding love's arrow in his left hand. He has red-orange hair, rendered in the same colouring and tone of the rich cloth sleeves covering his mother's upper arms.

<i>Darmstadt Madonna</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

The Darmstadt Madonna is an oil painting by Hans Holbein the Younger. Completed in 1526 in Basel, the work shows the Bürgermeister of Basel Jakob Meyer zum Hasen, his first wife, his current wife, and his daughter grouped around the Madonna and infant Jesus.

<i>Lais of Corinth</i> (Holbein) Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

Lais of Corinth by Hans Holbein the Younger portrays the famous Lais of Corinth, a courtesan of ancient Greece who charged a high price for her favours. It has been suggested that Holbein is also referring to the Lais who was the lover of Apelles, the great painter of antiquity. The model, the same used for the Venus and Amor, has been identified as either Magdalena Offenburg or her daughter Dorothea, as it was noted by Basilius Amerbach in the archives from the Amerbach-Cabinet, that the woman depicted was someone of the Offenburg family. Dorothea would have been eighteen years of age in 1526. It was assumed that either of the two may have been Holbein's mistress. Both paintings, the Venus as the Lais, came into the possession of the Amerbach Cabinet in the late 1500s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kunstmuseum Solothurn</span>

The Kunstmuseum Solothurn or Art Museum Solothurn is an art museum in the Swiss town Solothurn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jakob Meyer zum Hasen</span>

Jakob Meyer zum Hasen was the bürgermeister of the city of Basel from 1516 to 1521. A money changer by profession, he was the first bürgermeister of Basel to be a tradesman, belonging to a guild rather than a member of the aristocracy or a wealthy family. He is known as a patron of the painter Hans Holbein the Younger, having commissioned the Darmstadt Madonna and a double portrait from him.

The Amerbach Cabinet was a collection of artifacts, paintings, libraries, assembled by members of the Amerbach family, most notably by the two law professors of the University of Basel, Bonifacius Amerbach and his son Basilius Amerbach the Younger.

<i>Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

Hans Holbein the Younger painted the Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam several times, and his paintings were much copied, at the time and later. It is difficult to disentangle Holbein's original work from that of his workshop and other copyists. Possibly five largely original versions survive, as well as a number of drawings made as studies.

<i>Double Portrait of Jakob Meyer zum Hasen and Dorothea Kannengießer</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

The Double Portrait of Jakob Meyer zum Hasen and Dorothea Kannengießer is a 1516 oil-on-limewood panel painting by Hans Holbein the Younger. The two panels were commissioned by Jakob Meyer zum Hasen, mayor of Basel, and show him and his second wife Dorothea Kannengießer. The occasion for the portrait could be Meyer zum Hasen's election as the mayor the same year. Holbein was eighteen years old at the time and had arrived in Basel together with his brother Ambrosius only in 1515. He signed with the letters HH. He received the right to sign with his full name in 1519, when he was accepted as a member of the painters' guild of Basel.

<i>Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach</i> Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach by Hans Holbein the Younger

The Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach is a painting by the German master of the Renaissance Hans Holbein the Younger. It is deposited in the Basler Kunstmuseum as part of the Amerbach Cabinet. It is painted in tempera on pinewood and measures 29 cm x 27 cm.

Hans of Antwerp was a goldsmith and merchant working in Tudor London. He supplied silver plate and jewels to the court of Henry VIII.

<i>Portrait of the Artists Family</i> (Holbein) Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger

Portrait of the Artist's Family is a portrait of the family of the painter Hans Holbein the Younger by the artist himself. It depicts Holbein's wife Elsbeth Binzenstock, their son Philipp and their daughter Katharina. Holbein painted it during his stay in Basel after his return from England. It was painted, between 1528 and 1529, on paper and glued on wood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schwarzwald family</span> Polish noble family

The Schwarzwald family was a wealthy, patrician, merchant family living in the Hanseatic city of Danzig (Gdańsk) from the 15th to the 18th century. The family, which had its origins in the Black Forest in south-west Germany, can be traced back to Georg von Schwarzwald, who settled in Danzig in the early 1400s.

References

  1. Moyle, Franny, The King's Painter: The Life and Times of Hans Holbein, New York: Abrams Press, 2021, pp. 101, 102.
  2. Franny Moyle writes, "the escutcheons of the painting's patrons are woven into the carpet design: Johannes Gerster and Maria Barbara Guldinknopf." The King's Painter, p. 101.

Bibliography (in German)