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- So this must go about there.
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Must be there.
3
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And this will be the last one here.
4
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Oh, no.
5
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Who do you think that is?
6
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I'll give you a clue.
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It's a famous English king.
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So who is it?
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Come on, no Googling.
10
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Who is this stern and bony monarch?
11
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Now you smart people out there,
12
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the ones who come here to the
National Portrait Gallery,
13
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you got it straight away, I know.
14
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The give away, of course, is the nose,
15
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the way it's flattened.
16
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There's something walrus-y about it.
17
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But some of you didn't get it, right?
18
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And the reason you didn't
recognize immediately
19
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that this is the Henry VIII is
because this isn't the Henry
20
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we've all got up here in our imaginations.
21
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The Henry who had six
wives, who took on the Pope,
22
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who destroyed the monasteries.
23
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That Henry didn't look like this.
24
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He looked...
25
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Like this.
26
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Now that's what you call Henry VIII.
27
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Look at the way he stands,
28
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like a Tudor gunslinger at ye OK Corral.
29
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The mighty torso, the
sheer width of the man.
30
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This is a king who could change history.
31
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That's the Henry who lives
up here in our thoughts.
32
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Henry the Terrible, the
widest king in Christendom,
33
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and he is the creation of a
particularly important artist,
34
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an artist who I would argue
35
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didn't just record British history.
36
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He actually changed it.
37
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He was a funny little man,
a German from Bavaria.
38
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A genius who looked like a farmer,
39
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called Johannes, or Hans, Holbein.
40
00:03:02,874 --> 00:03:07,132
This is Holbein's great gift to the world,
41
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the iconic image of Henry VIII
which everyone recognizes.
42
00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,340
And Holbein didn't stop there.
43
00:03:17,984 --> 00:03:20,796
How do we know what Sir Thomas More,
44
00:03:20,796 --> 00:03:23,962
that conscience full man for all seasons,
45
00:03:23,962 --> 00:03:26,804
who stood up to Henry, looked like?
46
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Because of Holbein.
47
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How do we know what Henry's
unfortunate queens looked like?
48
00:03:36,773 --> 00:03:38,356
Because of Holbein.
49
00:03:39,996 --> 00:03:44,163
And how do we know what Thomas
Cromwell, Henry's go-to man
50
00:03:45,431 --> 00:03:50,227
for destroying the
monasteries, really look like?
51
00:03:50,227 --> 00:03:51,810
Because of Holbein.
52
00:03:54,706 --> 00:03:58,698
Holbein didn't just
describe Tudor England.
53
00:03:58,698 --> 00:04:03,147
He gave it an extraordinarily
active presence,
54
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made it feel real, and by
making Tudor England immortal,
55
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he changed history
because a slab of history
56
00:04:13,334 --> 00:04:16,840
we can envisage so
clearly will always trump
57
00:04:16,840 --> 00:04:21,007
all those other slabs of history
we can't envisage at all.
58
00:04:23,492 --> 00:04:27,659
Why are we so obsessed with
Henry VIII and his damned wives?
59
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Because of Holbein.
60
00:04:38,256 --> 00:04:41,839
Holbein was from here,
Augsburg in Bavaria,
61
00:04:43,502 --> 00:04:45,669
where he was born in 1497.
62
00:04:54,671 --> 00:04:57,856
His father was a painter,
a really good one,
63
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Hans Holbein the Elder.
64
00:05:00,289 --> 00:05:02,687
He painted religious pictures.
65
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This is one of his.
66
00:05:08,957 --> 00:05:11,409
He designed stained glass as well,
67
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so his son, trained by his
father, would have imbibed
68
00:05:15,893 --> 00:05:19,643
all these profound
Catholic moods from birth.
69
00:05:25,693 --> 00:05:27,667
Here at the museum in Augsburg,
70
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they've got one of Holbein
the Elder's finest pictures.
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00:05:32,649 --> 00:05:36,589
This is the Basilica of
St. Paul, as it's called,
72
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an altar piece which
tells St. Paul's story.
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00:05:42,904 --> 00:05:45,154
Over here, he's having his head cut off
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on the orders of the Emperor Nero.
75
00:05:49,670 --> 00:05:53,065
Apparently, the head bounced three times
76
00:05:53,065 --> 00:05:54,940
when it hit the ground,
77
00:05:54,940 --> 00:05:59,107
causing three miraculous
fountains to spurt from the earth.
78
00:06:01,734 --> 00:06:04,161
But what I really want to show you
79
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is this scene on the left,
because that old man there
80
00:06:07,713 --> 00:06:11,880
with the straggly beard, that's
actually Holbein the Elder.
81
00:06:13,115 --> 00:06:16,282
Below him are his two sons, Ambrosius,
82
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the older one with the curly hair,
83
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and next to him, little Hans Holbein,
84
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future painter of Henry VIII.
85
00:06:38,821 --> 00:06:42,321
So the dad trains the son to be a painter.
86
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When the son is 17, he comes here
87
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to Basel in modern Switzerland.
88
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Basel was famous for its printing,
89
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the European capital of books,
90
00:06:57,645 --> 00:07:01,136
and that must have been what
brought the young Holbein here.
91
00:07:01,136 --> 00:07:04,969
He was looking for work
as a book illustrator.
92
00:07:07,946 --> 00:07:12,860
Basel's greatest printer was
a man called Johann Froben.
93
00:07:12,860 --> 00:07:16,975
Froben was both a publisher and a scholar,
94
00:07:16,975 --> 00:07:20,478
so he was adventurous and informed,
95
00:07:20,478 --> 00:07:23,561
and Holbein was soon working for him.
96
00:07:26,279 --> 00:07:28,910
Froben produced lots of important books,
97
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but he's particularly well known
98
00:07:30,637 --> 00:07:33,718
for publishing the work of that celebrated
99
00:07:33,718 --> 00:07:36,801
Dutch naysayer, Erasmus of Rotterdam.
100
00:07:41,450 --> 00:07:44,533
And yes, Holbein painted Erasmus too,
101
00:07:45,916 --> 00:07:50,083
tucked up for winter in
his study, busily writing.
102
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Erasmus actually came to Basel
103
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specifically to work with Froben,
104
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and it was Froben who
published the best edition
105
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of Erasmus's most celebrated work,
106
00:08:07,982 --> 00:08:11,548
a hilarious send up of the modern world
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called In Praise of Folly.
108
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Just about everyone gets a
kicking in In Praise of Folly.
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00:08:21,595 --> 00:08:24,095
Young people, women, gamblers.
110
00:08:29,131 --> 00:08:33,298
But Erasmus comes down
particularly hard on the clergy,
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the priests, the bishops and the friars.
112
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Holbein was just 17 when
he got hold of a copy
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of In Praise of Folly, and in the margins,
114
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he drew all these funny little drawings.
115
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It's like something a
naughty schoolboy might do,
116
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draw all over a famous book.
117
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This chap here is walking along the road
118
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when he sees a beautiful woman,
119
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and he's so busy staring at her,
120
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he steps into a basket of eggs. (groans)
121
00:09:21,886 --> 00:09:26,297
And this is a monk who's
taken the vow of poverty,
122
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so he can only touch money
123
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with this weird money-touching implement.
124
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However, with his other hand, he can touch
125
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whatever he wants, as you can see.
126
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It's impressively rude.
127
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How can a 17 year old boy
know this much already
128
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about sex, greed, human stupidity?
129
00:09:53,189 --> 00:09:57,991
The Holbein who emerges here
is an instinctive subversive,
130
00:09:57,991 --> 00:10:00,968
a mickey taker who sides with Erasmus
131
00:10:00,968 --> 00:10:03,968
to poke fun at the world around him.
132
00:10:06,993 --> 00:10:10,576
So a good question is,
where did it all go?
133
00:10:11,924 --> 00:10:15,032
Did Holbein suppress all
this precocious knowledge
134
00:10:15,032 --> 00:10:18,176
of the dark workings of men?
135
00:10:18,176 --> 00:10:22,093
Or did it sometimes poke
out and reveal itself?
136
00:10:26,564 --> 00:10:28,840
When you're as talented as this,
137
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when you've got this much speed
138
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and inventiveness in your fingers,
139
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people quickly notice,
so Holbein was soon busy.
140
00:10:43,414 --> 00:10:47,581
The thing he was really good
at was religious painting.
141
00:10:48,583 --> 00:10:53,144
This is the dead Christ that
the young Holbein painted
142
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for the base of a Basel altar piece.
143
00:10:58,452 --> 00:11:02,285
It's a coruscating piece
of religious realism.
144
00:11:04,849 --> 00:11:08,463
But he could do Catholic
fluffiness as well,
145
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like this gorgeous Madonna and child,
146
00:11:11,849 --> 00:11:14,599
standing in a niche in Darmstadt.
147
00:11:17,192 --> 00:11:21,359
Look at the brilliant
foreshortening of Jesus's hand.
148
00:11:22,684 --> 00:11:26,601
Leonardo himself would
have been proud of that.
149
00:11:30,247 --> 00:11:32,440
So it was all going spiffingly.
150
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His religious art was in demand.
151
00:11:34,713 --> 00:11:38,566
The book trade was keeping
him busy when along came
152
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Martin Luther and his
Protestant Reformation.
153
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Suddenly, everything changes.
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(men screaming and weapons clashing)
155
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In a Lutheran world, there
was no longer much demand
156
00:11:52,010 --> 00:11:56,177
for Catholic Madonnas standing
ornately in golden niches.
157
00:12:01,530 --> 00:12:04,905
The printing industry
too began to flounder.
158
00:12:04,905 --> 00:12:07,429
Who should it publish?
159
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The Protestants or the Catholics?
160
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With the publishing world caught
in this dangerous crossfire
161
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and the religious commissions drying up,
162
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Holbein needed to find
work somewhere else,
163
00:12:25,657 --> 00:12:29,407
and that's where Erasmus
made himself useful.
164
00:12:33,010 --> 00:12:37,177
Erasmus had actually written
In Praise of Folly in England.
165
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He'd spent several years there,
166
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teaching at Oxford and Cambridge,
167
00:12:45,807 --> 00:12:49,974
and in 1526, Holbein, armed
with a letter of introduction
168
00:12:51,776 --> 00:12:55,943
from Erasmus, set off
looking for work to England.
169
00:12:59,819 --> 00:13:02,974
When he gets here to England,
he's in his late 20s,
170
00:13:02,974 --> 00:13:07,141
so he's still a young artist,
but already very experienced.
171
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The unexpected thing, though,
about Holbein's arrival
172
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and Henry VIII's England
is that the one thing
173
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he didn't have much experience
of was painting portraits.
174
00:13:22,661 --> 00:13:24,653
In Basel, Holbein had been known
175
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chiefly as a religious artist.
176
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He'd painted one or two portraits, yes,
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and they were really good,
178
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but they were exceptions in his output.
179
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England, though, had never had much
180
00:13:41,705 --> 00:13:45,318
of an appetite for Madonnas and Christs.
181
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That kind of thing was
best left to the Italians.
182
00:13:49,295 --> 00:13:52,491
In England, the art form
that was most esteemed
183
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and which seemed most in tune
184
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with the national psyche was portraiture.
185
00:14:01,837 --> 00:14:05,981
The staircases of England
were lined with ancestors,
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showing off their bloodlines.
187
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To succeed in England,
Holbein needed to change tact.
188
00:14:22,986 --> 00:14:25,266
Erasmus had given him an introduction
189
00:14:25,266 --> 00:14:29,018
to one of the most
influential men of the court,
190
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writer, statesman, theologian,
and as it later transpired,
191
00:14:35,318 --> 00:14:38,068
Catholic martyr, Sir Thomas More.
192
00:14:43,245 --> 00:14:45,967
Holbein seems to have spent
most of his first year
193
00:14:45,967 --> 00:14:49,717
in England living in
More's house in Chelsea.
194
00:14:52,068 --> 00:14:56,235
He was working on this, a
hugely ambitious group portrait
195
00:14:57,392 --> 00:15:00,225
of More and his very large family.
196
00:15:02,609 --> 00:15:06,776
Unfortunately, this is a
copy, and not a very good one.
197
00:15:08,207 --> 00:15:12,374
The original was destroyed by
a fire in the 18th century.
198
00:15:14,316 --> 00:15:18,149
All that's left of the
real Holbein is a stack
199
00:15:19,026 --> 00:15:22,193
of these astonishingly vivid drawings.
200
00:15:27,613 --> 00:15:31,196
Oh, and there is
something else, of course.
201
00:15:32,183 --> 00:15:35,433
This, Holbein's great portrait of More,
202
00:15:37,416 --> 00:15:41,583
which they have here at the
Frick Collection in New York.
203
00:15:44,597 --> 00:15:48,597
More was the man who
famously stood up to Henry,
204
00:15:49,543 --> 00:15:51,702
who refused to accept the king
205
00:15:51,702 --> 00:15:54,202
as the new head of the church,
206
00:15:55,206 --> 00:15:57,373
so Henry had him beheaded.
207
00:16:00,688 --> 00:16:02,143
Now, I was brought up believing
208
00:16:02,143 --> 00:16:05,956
that Sir Thomas More was
a man of great principle.
209
00:16:05,956 --> 00:16:10,123
That's why the Catholic church
made him a saint in 1935.
210
00:16:13,697 --> 00:16:17,193
But more recently, a different Thomas More
211
00:16:17,193 --> 00:16:19,193
has been proposed to us.
212
00:16:20,456 --> 00:16:23,278
In today's histories, he's often presented
213
00:16:23,278 --> 00:16:25,778
as a demented religious bigot,
214
00:16:27,133 --> 00:16:29,716
a cruel slayer of the heretics.
215
00:16:33,346 --> 00:16:35,553
That's what modern
novelists and playwrights
216
00:16:35,553 --> 00:16:37,351
have been making of More,
217
00:16:37,351 --> 00:16:40,450
but it's not what Holbein makes of him,
218
00:16:40,450 --> 00:16:42,283
and Holbein was there.
219
00:16:45,875 --> 00:16:49,891
I know it's a cliche and it's
been said a thousand times,
220
00:16:49,891 --> 00:16:54,058
but you really do feel he's
standing there before you,
221
00:16:55,373 --> 00:16:59,540
one of the most resolute
presences in British art.
222
00:17:03,572 --> 00:17:05,174
Just look at the details,
223
00:17:05,174 --> 00:17:08,759
the way the velvet has been painted,
224
00:17:08,759 --> 00:17:11,842
or his perfectly observed skin tones,
225
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,797
or that utterly convincing
five o'clock shadow.
226
00:17:20,060 --> 00:17:22,643
This sense of actuality is new,
227
00:17:23,970 --> 00:17:27,137
not just in British art, but anywhere.
228
00:17:30,176 --> 00:17:34,259
These first English portraits of Holbein's
229
00:17:34,259 --> 00:17:38,426
make Doctor Who's of us all,
TARDIS-ing us back in time
230
00:17:40,482 --> 00:17:44,649
to meet a Tudor cast that
feels astonishingly present.
231
00:17:47,571 --> 00:17:50,321
Just there, right in front of us.
232
00:17:57,214 --> 00:18:01,381
Holbein's first visit to
England lasted just two years
233
00:18:03,637 --> 00:18:07,804
before the fates conspired
to bring him home to Basel.
234
00:18:12,052 --> 00:18:14,908
He was busy enough, that wasn't the issue,
235
00:18:14,908 --> 00:18:18,115
but as a citizen of Basel,
he could only leave the city
236
00:18:18,115 --> 00:18:21,950
for a short time or he'd
lose his citizenship.
237
00:18:21,950 --> 00:18:24,617
So in 1528, he had to come back.
238
00:18:29,736 --> 00:18:33,903
It was probably now that he
painted his wife and children.
239
00:18:34,755 --> 00:18:38,816
He'd had to leave them behind
when he left for England,
240
00:18:38,816 --> 00:18:42,436
and as you can see, he's made them
241
00:18:42,436 --> 00:18:44,936
into a holy family, hasn't he?
242
00:18:46,687 --> 00:18:50,170
A suffering Madonna and her infants,
243
00:18:50,170 --> 00:18:52,253
dreading what lies ahead.
244
00:18:56,065 --> 00:18:59,482
Basel in 1528 was not a nice place to be,
245
00:19:00,971 --> 00:19:03,971
if you were a painter or a Catholic.
246
00:19:05,948 --> 00:19:08,425
Holbein had seen the Protestant revolution
247
00:19:08,425 --> 00:19:09,925
arriving in Basel.
248
00:19:10,963 --> 00:19:13,850
It was one of the reasons
he'd left for England,
249
00:19:13,850 --> 00:19:15,667
but in the time he was gone,
250
00:19:15,667 --> 00:19:18,334
it had all gotten so much worse.
251
00:19:22,656 --> 00:19:26,823
Basel officially became a
Protestant city in 1529.
252
00:19:28,923 --> 00:19:32,256
To celebrate, gangs of rabid iconoclasts
253
00:19:33,532 --> 00:19:36,353
rampaged through the churches,
254
00:19:36,353 --> 00:19:40,520
looking for Madonnas to
trample and Christs to smash.
255
00:19:47,312 --> 00:19:49,925
On the ninth of February, 1529,
256
00:19:49,925 --> 00:19:52,758
a gang of some 200 angry Lutherans
257
00:19:53,716 --> 00:19:56,960
broke into here, Basel Cathedral,
258
00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,293
and began attacking the art.
259
00:20:01,613 --> 00:20:04,863
Statues, crucifixes, Holbein paintings,
260
00:20:09,558 --> 00:20:13,968
and they didn't stop until all
this superstitious idolatry,
261
00:20:13,968 --> 00:20:16,468
as they saw it, was destroyed.
262
00:20:23,253 --> 00:20:27,420
There's no official record of
Holbein's own religious views.
263
00:20:29,014 --> 00:20:32,514
Not surprisingly, he kept them to himself.
264
00:20:33,667 --> 00:20:37,834
But he was born a Catholic
in very Catholic Bavaria,
265
00:20:40,530 --> 00:20:44,697
and my hunch, based on the
odd visual clue here and there
266
00:20:45,619 --> 00:20:49,786
is that he never crossed over
fully to the Lutheran side.
267
00:20:55,242 --> 00:20:58,990
What's definite is that work
was now hard to come by.
268
00:20:58,990 --> 00:21:01,529
The iconoclasts had seen to that.
269
00:21:01,529 --> 00:21:03,515
In a world without images,
270
00:21:03,515 --> 00:21:07,182
there was no longer
much need for a painter.
271
00:21:10,466 --> 00:21:13,080
Holbein didn't leave immediately.
272
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,605
There was his wife and
children to worry about,
273
00:21:16,605 --> 00:21:20,355
but in 1532, having put
his affairs in order,
274
00:21:22,288 --> 00:21:26,455
he left Basel again and set
off once more for England.
275
00:21:30,168 --> 00:21:34,335
And this time, he'd be working
not just in royal circles,
276
00:21:35,983 --> 00:21:40,066
but for the king himself,
and what a king he was.
277
00:21:43,052 --> 00:21:45,531
Holbein came to England because
278
00:21:45,531 --> 00:21:48,997
he was following the money, as artists do.
279
00:21:48,997 --> 00:21:52,706
Getting away from Basel, getting
away from the iconoclasts,
280
00:21:52,706 --> 00:21:57,401
he came here, looking
for prosperity and peace.
281
00:21:57,401 --> 00:21:59,818
Instead, he found Henry VIII.
282
00:22:03,695 --> 00:22:08,305
And for him to be here while
Henry beheaded his wives,
283
00:22:08,305 --> 00:22:12,472
took on the Pope, brutally
enforced his new religion,
284
00:22:13,655 --> 00:22:17,822
is so damn fortunate, it
almost feels preordained.
285
00:22:31,629 --> 00:22:34,299
Holbein didn't begin working for the king
286
00:22:34,299 --> 00:22:37,764
as soon as he returned to London.
287
00:22:37,764 --> 00:22:41,264
His first patrons actually came from here.
288
00:22:44,685 --> 00:22:47,948
It's changed a bit, of
course, but in Tudor times,
289
00:22:47,948 --> 00:22:52,326
this was a very important
location for Holbein,
290
00:22:52,326 --> 00:22:55,084
because where I'm standing
now was the center
291
00:22:55,084 --> 00:22:59,251
of a huge urban complex
called the German Steelyard.
292
00:23:03,609 --> 00:23:06,442
The Steelyard wasn't a steel yard.
293
00:23:07,812 --> 00:23:11,979
It was a city within a city,
a kind of German Hong Kong,
294
00:23:13,810 --> 00:23:15,991
created by German merchants
295
00:23:15,991 --> 00:23:19,324
for the purposes of international trade.
296
00:23:23,983 --> 00:23:28,968
It had been here since 1320,
growing bigger and bigger,
297
00:23:28,968 --> 00:23:31,147
and the German merchants in here,
298
00:23:31,147 --> 00:23:34,539
they didn't pay any tolls or customs.
299
00:23:34,539 --> 00:23:36,842
They were privileged foreigners,
300
00:23:36,842 --> 00:23:40,423
and inside this walled
community of theirs,
301
00:23:40,423 --> 00:23:44,173
they had warehouses,
shops, offices, taverns.
302
00:23:47,234 --> 00:23:51,024
So this was a home from home for Holbein,
303
00:23:51,024 --> 00:23:54,357
and when he returned to England in 1532,
304
00:23:55,695 --> 00:23:59,227
the rich German merchants of the Steelyard
305
00:23:59,227 --> 00:24:01,310
were his first customers.
306
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:10,814
This handsome young chap who
now hangs in Windsor Castle
307
00:24:10,814 --> 00:24:14,981
is Derrick Born from Cologne,
who supplied the court
308
00:24:15,922 --> 00:24:20,089
of Henry VIII with military
equipment for the army.
309
00:24:21,068 --> 00:24:23,985
In Holbein's time, just like today,
310
00:24:24,906 --> 00:24:28,457
if you wanted precision, quality,
311
00:24:28,457 --> 00:24:32,374
and vorsprung durch
technik, you bought German.
312
00:24:38,020 --> 00:24:39,747
The paintings that Holbein made
313
00:24:39,747 --> 00:24:42,378
for the merchants of the German Steelyard
314
00:24:42,378 --> 00:24:44,799
seem to speak a different language
315
00:24:44,799 --> 00:24:47,152
from his other English pictures.
316
00:24:47,152 --> 00:24:50,830
It's as if some of that different mindset
317
00:24:50,830 --> 00:24:53,679
that had poked out in In Praise of Folly
318
00:24:53,679 --> 00:24:55,596
pokes out here as well.
319
00:25:00,809 --> 00:25:03,460
This exceptionally fine fellow is
320
00:25:03,460 --> 00:25:06,460
Georg Giese, a merchant from Danzig.
321
00:25:10,133 --> 00:25:13,223
He's sitting in his office
in the German Steelyard,
322
00:25:13,223 --> 00:25:17,401
surrounded by the
accoutrements of his trade,
323
00:25:17,401 --> 00:25:19,401
his pens, his documents,
324
00:25:21,731 --> 00:25:24,731
the box in which he keeps his money.
325
00:25:27,277 --> 00:25:29,839
And all these details
which have been described
326
00:25:29,839 --> 00:25:34,037
so perfectly by Holbein
have other meanings,
327
00:25:34,037 --> 00:25:36,822
secret little messages that have been
328
00:25:36,822 --> 00:25:38,989
smuggled into the picture.
329
00:25:42,041 --> 00:25:46,012
In particular, notice the
beautiful Venetian vase
330
00:25:46,012 --> 00:25:48,762
with its fragile pink carnations.
331
00:25:50,741 --> 00:25:53,759
How skillfully Holbein has painted
332
00:25:53,759 --> 00:25:57,743
the shifting reflections in the glass,
333
00:25:57,743 --> 00:26:00,685
and how precariously the vase is balanced
334
00:26:00,685 --> 00:26:02,768
on the edge of the table.
335
00:26:05,493 --> 00:26:09,660
Whenever you see something on
the edge of a table in art,
336
00:26:12,079 --> 00:26:14,293
it always means the same thing.
337
00:26:14,293 --> 00:26:16,126
Isn't life precarious?
338
00:26:17,229 --> 00:26:19,818
It's the same with the money box.
339
00:26:19,818 --> 00:26:22,985
How easily Georg Giese's stash of cash
340
00:26:25,646 --> 00:26:27,479
could topple and fall.
341
00:26:30,194 --> 00:26:33,111
(glass shattering)
342
00:26:34,170 --> 00:26:38,381
The precarious vase,
the lovely reflections
343
00:26:38,381 --> 00:26:41,862
are all brilliant Holbein-ian reminders
344
00:26:41,862 --> 00:26:43,945
of the shortness of life.
345
00:26:45,324 --> 00:26:48,852
Just like the reflections in the glass,
346
00:26:48,852 --> 00:26:51,935
all this can disappear in an instant.
347
00:26:53,691 --> 00:26:57,238
It's a message that's always relevant,
348
00:26:57,238 --> 00:27:00,602
but it was particularly relevant
349
00:27:00,602 --> 00:27:04,769
in the shifting, fracturing
England of Henry VIII.
350
00:27:11,291 --> 00:27:14,148
Holbein obviously didn't know what
351
00:27:14,148 --> 00:27:18,315
he was letting himself in
for in Henry VIII's England.
352
00:27:19,464 --> 00:27:21,803
Had he known, he would surely
353
00:27:21,803 --> 00:27:24,720
have turned tail and returned home.
354
00:27:28,803 --> 00:27:31,361
You know, between the age of five and 11,
355
00:27:31,361 --> 00:27:33,264
I used to walk down this road
356
00:27:33,264 --> 00:27:36,599
pretty much every day of my life.
357
00:27:36,599 --> 00:27:39,189
We lived up there in Caversham in Reading,
358
00:27:39,189 --> 00:27:43,356
and this was my way to school
every day for six years.
359
00:27:45,010 --> 00:27:48,408
And not once in that
time did I ever consider
360
00:27:48,408 --> 00:27:50,908
the significance of this road.
361
00:27:56,565 --> 00:28:00,521
My school was down here, down the alley.
362
00:28:00,521 --> 00:28:03,271
I used to love walking down here.
363
00:28:05,192 --> 00:28:08,579
The school was a Catholic primary school
364
00:28:08,579 --> 00:28:11,162
run by nuns, called St. Anne's.
365
00:28:14,122 --> 00:28:18,289
A nice, friendly, ordinary
school next door to a church.
366
00:28:21,117 --> 00:28:25,038
The church was also called St. Anne's,
367
00:28:25,038 --> 00:28:28,567
and back then, I didn't know
what had actually happened here
368
00:28:28,567 --> 00:28:31,234
in Holbein's time, but I do now.
369
00:28:35,027 --> 00:28:39,455
St. Anne's Caversham had
a famous statue in it.
370
00:28:39,455 --> 00:28:42,985
She was called Our Lady of Caversham,
371
00:28:42,985 --> 00:28:46,568
and she was said to
have miraculous powers.
372
00:28:52,032 --> 00:28:54,294
The shrine of Our Lady of Caversham
373
00:28:54,294 --> 00:28:59,099
was one of the most visited
locations in Tudor England.
374
00:28:59,099 --> 00:29:02,836
Pilgrims would travel hundreds of miles
375
00:29:02,836 --> 00:29:04,836
to pray to her for help.
376
00:29:06,918 --> 00:29:10,979
One of them was the
rightful queen of England,
377
00:29:10,979 --> 00:29:14,762
Catherine of Aragon, who
came here to Caversham
378
00:29:14,762 --> 00:29:16,929
on the 17th of July, 1532,
379
00:29:19,762 --> 00:29:22,762
to pray for her husband, Henry VIII.
380
00:29:27,408 --> 00:29:30,825
It was the queen's final plea to her God,
381
00:29:31,756 --> 00:29:35,714
begging him to intervene and stop Henry
382
00:29:35,714 --> 00:29:39,381
from divorcing her and
marrying Anne Boleyn.
383
00:29:42,856 --> 00:29:44,228
Of course, it didn't work.
384
00:29:44,228 --> 00:29:46,416
Henry went ahead with his divorce.
385
00:29:46,416 --> 00:29:48,733
He married Anne Boleyn,
386
00:29:48,733 --> 00:29:52,900
made himself the supreme
head of a new English Church.
387
00:29:54,885 --> 00:29:56,628
A few years later, he took
388
00:29:56,628 --> 00:29:59,711
his revenge on Our Lady of Caversham.
389
00:30:04,816 --> 00:30:08,983
On the 14th of September, 1538,
a gang of government agents
390
00:30:10,463 --> 00:30:14,630
arrived at St. Anne's and
closed down the famous shrine.
391
00:30:17,487 --> 00:30:21,065
Our Lady of Caversham
was bundled into a cart
392
00:30:21,065 --> 00:30:22,732
and taken to London.
393
00:30:28,122 --> 00:30:31,826
The gold and the silver in
which the statue was covered
394
00:30:31,826 --> 00:30:35,104
was stripped off and sent to the king,
395
00:30:35,104 --> 00:30:39,271
and the actual wooden statue,
well, that was burned.
396
00:30:41,698 --> 00:30:44,467
The man who organized all this destruction
397
00:30:44,467 --> 00:30:47,475
and who jotted off a
quick note to his agents
398
00:30:47,475 --> 00:30:51,487
to congratulate them on a job well done
399
00:30:51,487 --> 00:30:54,987
was, of course, Cromwell, Thomas Cromwell.
400
00:30:59,452 --> 00:31:03,285
I bet you were wondering
when we'd get to him.
401
00:31:05,633 --> 00:31:07,025
Now when I was at school,
402
00:31:07,025 --> 00:31:11,640
Cromwell was recognized by
everyone as a terrible man.
403
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:16,267
Henry VIII's enforcer, a
destroyer of the monasteries.
404
00:31:16,267 --> 00:31:21,128
In recent years, though, there's
been this big reassessment,
405
00:31:21,128 --> 00:31:24,682
and the modern image of
him, the one you find today
406
00:31:24,682 --> 00:31:28,849
in plays and books, is of
a decent and brilliant man
407
00:31:29,765 --> 00:31:33,015
who's trapped in a difficult situation.
408
00:31:35,030 --> 00:31:39,197
Cromwell, we're now told,
was an early civil servant
409
00:31:40,147 --> 00:31:44,325
who channeled power away from the monarchy
410
00:31:44,325 --> 00:31:48,242
and who invented the
modern bureaucratic state.
411
00:31:52,966 --> 00:31:56,289
These days, we're encouraged
to see Thomas Cromwell
412
00:31:56,289 --> 00:32:00,456
as a good guy, but in this
film, I'm not going to do that,
413
00:32:01,810 --> 00:32:03,977
for two important reasons.
414
00:32:05,187 --> 00:32:06,854
This is one of them.
415
00:32:09,816 --> 00:32:13,362
What Cromwell did to
Our Lady of Caversham,
416
00:32:13,362 --> 00:32:17,529
the ruination he visited
upon England's artistic past,
417
00:32:18,938 --> 00:32:20,271
is unforgivable.
418
00:32:23,018 --> 00:32:27,185
And the second reason for not
whitewashing Thomas Cromwell
419
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,717
is this, Holbein's portrait of him.
420
00:32:39,130 --> 00:32:43,297
Just look at him, what a
hard and charmless presence.
421
00:32:44,310 --> 00:32:48,300
Those piggy eyes, that blank expression.
422
00:32:48,300 --> 00:32:52,396
Cromwell is surely the
least attractive sitter
423
00:32:52,396 --> 00:32:54,896
in the whole of Holbein's art.
424
00:32:56,923 --> 00:33:01,594
This was painted at the
outset of Cromwell's campaign
425
00:33:01,594 --> 00:33:04,261
against the monasteries in 1533.
426
00:33:07,731 --> 00:33:11,273
It shows him in his office with his quills
427
00:33:11,273 --> 00:33:15,440
and his documents, inventing
the modern bureaucratic state.
428
00:33:19,609 --> 00:33:22,649
According to various
conspiratorial whispers
429
00:33:22,649 --> 00:33:26,827
doing the rounds, Cromwell
actually used Holbein
430
00:33:26,827 --> 00:33:31,608
to spy on the German
community in the Steelyard.
431
00:33:31,608 --> 00:33:35,775
That's how Holbein ended up
working for the English court.
432
00:33:38,485 --> 00:33:43,454
It's certainly true that
Cromwell had spies everywhere.
433
00:33:43,454 --> 00:33:48,073
But is Holbein really thanking
him for his assistance
434
00:33:48,073 --> 00:33:49,990
in this grim portrayal?
435
00:33:51,154 --> 00:33:53,404
Was he really the good guy?
436
00:33:54,727 --> 00:33:58,810
And was Thomas More over
here really the bad guy?
437
00:34:03,194 --> 00:34:07,361
Fortunately, because of
Holbein, who was actually there,
438
00:34:08,470 --> 00:34:10,708
who knew them both, who happened to be
439
00:34:10,708 --> 00:34:14,281
the greatest portraitist of his times,
440
00:34:14,281 --> 00:34:17,698
here at the Frick Collection in New York,
441
00:34:18,656 --> 00:34:21,823
we're in a perfect position to decide.
442
00:34:25,076 --> 00:34:29,076
So, who is the goodie
here and who's the baddie?
443
00:34:31,475 --> 00:34:35,642
Where Holbein stands on the
matter is surely pretty obvious.
444
00:34:43,926 --> 00:34:48,093
Holbein officially entered the
service of the king in 1535.
445
00:34:51,082 --> 00:34:54,469
He was paid 30 pounds per year,
446
00:34:54,469 --> 00:34:58,052
which even in those
days, wasn't very much,
447
00:35:00,847 --> 00:35:03,098
and since this was the
court of Henry VIII,
448
00:35:03,098 --> 00:35:06,429
there were immediately problems.
449
00:35:06,429 --> 00:35:10,125
Holbein's first supporter
in England, Sir Thomas More,
450
00:35:10,125 --> 00:35:13,137
had risen to the rank of Lord Chancellor,
451
00:35:13,137 --> 00:35:16,415
but he refused to accept
the king's new position
452
00:35:16,415 --> 00:35:20,498
as head of the church, so
Henry had him beheaded.
453
00:35:23,049 --> 00:35:25,633
Poor Holbein had no choice, really,
454
00:35:25,633 --> 00:35:29,800
but to disassociate himself
from his first supporter.
455
00:35:34,056 --> 00:35:38,024
He needed a new patron, and at some point,
456
00:35:38,024 --> 00:35:41,701
probably with the connivance of Cromwell,
457
00:35:41,701 --> 00:35:45,868
he managed to get it, on the
good side of Anne Boleyn.
458
00:35:52,816 --> 00:35:54,850
How did he do that?
459
00:35:54,850 --> 00:35:56,850
With his art, of course.
460
00:35:58,509 --> 00:36:00,587
There's a drawing in the Basel Museum
461
00:36:00,587 --> 00:36:04,347
of a magnificent gold table fountain
462
00:36:04,347 --> 00:36:07,347
he designed for the king's new wife.
463
00:36:08,961 --> 00:36:13,339
It would have been covered
in pearls and rubies,
464
00:36:13,339 --> 00:36:15,543
and the water would have flowed
465
00:36:15,543 --> 00:36:18,543
from the breasts of the women below.
466
00:36:22,301 --> 00:36:25,066
So he wasn't just the court portraitist.
467
00:36:25,066 --> 00:36:27,341
To earn his 30 pounds a year,
468
00:36:27,341 --> 00:36:30,674
Holbein had lots of duties at the court.
469
00:36:32,892 --> 00:36:37,059
He designed the royal jewelry
and the royal pendants,
470
00:36:38,984 --> 00:36:42,317
the royal cutlery and the royal daggers.
471
00:36:44,169 --> 00:36:47,252
He even designed the royal fireplace.
472
00:36:55,567 --> 00:36:59,435
But his chief duty, the one
we all know him for today,
473
00:36:59,435 --> 00:37:02,405
was to invent a look for Henry VIII
474
00:37:02,405 --> 00:37:05,072
that was instantly recognizable.
475
00:37:09,327 --> 00:37:12,818
Henry needed portraits
of himself to hand out
476
00:37:12,818 --> 00:37:17,324
to passing dignitaries, people
he was trying to impress.
477
00:37:17,324 --> 00:37:20,343
So this wasn't portraiture as a record
478
00:37:20,343 --> 00:37:22,339
of how he actually looked.
479
00:37:22,339 --> 00:37:26,256
This was portraiture as
a weapon of propaganda.
480
00:37:29,595 --> 00:37:33,178
Holbein painted Henry
on various occasions.
481
00:37:35,462 --> 00:37:39,629
Henry VIII, the extra wide
monarch, ruler of all he surveys.
482
00:37:43,553 --> 00:37:47,720
They're splendid, of course,
jewel-like and perfect,
483
00:37:49,594 --> 00:37:53,261
but they're not exactly
revealing, are they?
484
00:37:57,632 --> 00:37:59,966
This is the most celebrated of them.
485
00:37:59,966 --> 00:38:02,633
Henry in the classic Henry pose.
486
00:38:04,494 --> 00:38:06,521
Now this is actually a cartoon
487
00:38:06,521 --> 00:38:10,271
or preparatory drawing
for a life-sized mural
488
00:38:11,130 --> 00:38:14,547
that Holbein painted in Whitehall Palace.
489
00:38:17,448 --> 00:38:20,324
There's a copy of it in Hampton Court.
490
00:38:20,324 --> 00:38:22,456
Henry and his parents,
491
00:38:22,456 --> 00:38:25,789
welcoming visitors to his privy chamber.
492
00:38:27,117 --> 00:38:29,660
Imagine walking into a room
493
00:38:29,660 --> 00:38:33,410
and being confronted by
this lot, life-sized.
494
00:38:37,490 --> 00:38:39,964
The actual painting, the Holbein mural,
495
00:38:39,964 --> 00:38:43,846
was destroyed by a fire
in the 17th century.
496
00:38:43,846 --> 00:38:46,456
There's just this drawing left.
497
00:38:46,456 --> 00:38:50,623
But one thing you do get from
this is a sense of scale.
498
00:38:51,597 --> 00:38:53,680
Look how big the king is.
499
00:38:58,648 --> 00:39:02,815
Holbein was no longer in the
business of telling the truth.
500
00:39:03,940 --> 00:39:08,107
Instead, he's invented a Henry
VIII so imposing and wide
501
00:39:11,388 --> 00:39:14,138
that no one dared argue with him.
502
00:39:16,622 --> 00:39:20,930
It was a task accomplished
in the Mao Tse-Tung manner,
503
00:39:20,930 --> 00:39:25,097
with constant repetition and
huge exaggerations of scale.
504
00:39:36,397 --> 00:39:40,564
By the time the Whitehall
mural was painted in 1537,
505
00:39:42,698 --> 00:39:46,031
Anne Boleyn had had the Henry treatment.
506
00:39:48,074 --> 00:39:52,011
Accused on trumped up charges of incest,
507
00:39:52,011 --> 00:39:55,428
adultery and witchcraft, she was beheaded
508
00:39:57,351 --> 00:39:59,434
on the 19th of May, 1536,
509
00:40:01,868 --> 00:40:05,035
while Cromwell watched from the wings.
510
00:40:07,531 --> 00:40:11,028
The next day, Henry was betrothed
511
00:40:11,028 --> 00:40:13,913
to one of her maids in waiting,
512
00:40:13,913 --> 00:40:16,663
the pale and placid Jane Seymour.
513
00:40:21,044 --> 00:40:24,744
Jane Seymour would actually
be standing about here
514
00:40:24,744 --> 00:40:29,508
in the Whitehall mural,
in the bit that's missing.
515
00:40:29,508 --> 00:40:32,670
Don't worry, we know exactly
what she looked like,
516
00:40:32,670 --> 00:40:36,837
because Holbein has also
left us a portrait of her.
517
00:40:41,049 --> 00:40:44,650
It's a lovely thing and
hangs now in Vienna,
518
00:40:44,650 --> 00:40:47,317
in the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
519
00:40:48,159 --> 00:40:50,801
But here too, there's a distance,
520
00:40:50,801 --> 00:40:53,218
a lack of touchable humanity.
521
00:40:54,591 --> 00:40:57,841
A beautiful queen in beautiful clothes,
522
00:40:58,739 --> 00:41:01,630
she's like one of those precious pendants
523
00:41:01,630 --> 00:41:05,797
that Holbein designed for
the court, a human jewel.
524
00:41:13,886 --> 00:41:17,743
Jane Seymour didn't last
long, just one year.
525
00:41:17,743 --> 00:41:19,876
Having given birth to the male heir
526
00:41:19,876 --> 00:41:24,552
that Henry craved so
desperately, she died tragically
527
00:41:24,552 --> 00:41:28,635
from complications brought
on by the royal birth.
528
00:41:31,150 --> 00:41:34,468
The son she bore, the future Edward VI,
529
00:41:34,468 --> 00:41:38,635
was also painted by Holbein,
in this fiercely frontal image.
530
00:41:42,139 --> 00:41:45,473
He's got Henry's cheeks, that's for sure.
531
00:41:45,473 --> 00:41:48,973
But his real face is hiding in the middle.
532
00:41:54,936 --> 00:41:56,730
With the death of Jane Seymour,
533
00:41:56,730 --> 00:42:00,640
that was three wives down
and three to go for Henry.
534
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:04,004
But having run out of
maids in waiting at court,
535
00:42:04,004 --> 00:42:07,334
he widened the search for wife number four
536
00:42:07,334 --> 00:42:11,501
by assembling a new list of
the best European princesses.
537
00:42:14,682 --> 00:42:18,849
Poor Holbein found himself
involved intimately in this hunt,
538
00:42:20,489 --> 00:42:23,307
when he was sent across the Channel
539
00:42:23,307 --> 00:42:27,307
to paint portraits of
Henry's prospective brides
540
00:42:29,201 --> 00:42:32,451
so the king could choose the prettiest.
541
00:42:33,665 --> 00:42:37,165
Welcome to the Hans Holbein dating agency.
542
00:42:41,256 --> 00:42:44,282
The first princess, Christina of Denmark,
543
00:42:44,282 --> 00:42:47,449
was just 16 when Henry approached her.
544
00:42:48,857 --> 00:42:51,607
Christina was famously beautiful.
545
00:42:52,885 --> 00:42:56,981
Just how beautiful,
you can see immediately
546
00:42:56,981 --> 00:43:01,148
from Holbein's superb,
full-length portrait of her.
547
00:43:06,519 --> 00:43:10,728
Although she was so young,
Christina was already a widow,
548
00:43:10,728 --> 00:43:14,895
having been married briefly
to the Duke of Mantua.
549
00:43:16,388 --> 00:43:18,573
That's why she's wearing black
550
00:43:18,573 --> 00:43:21,156
in Holbein's towering likeness.
551
00:43:24,331 --> 00:43:27,569
Apparently, Holbein had just
one sitting with Christina
552
00:43:27,569 --> 00:43:30,736
in Brussels, which lasted three hours.
553
00:43:31,580 --> 00:43:34,718
The drawing he produced
in those three hours
554
00:43:34,718 --> 00:43:37,842
with those lightning fast fingers of his
555
00:43:37,842 --> 00:43:40,509
was all he needed to paint this.
556
00:43:43,537 --> 00:43:47,704
It's his finest and most
ambitious female portrait.
557
00:43:49,503 --> 00:43:52,460
Not surprisingly, Henry wanted immediately
558
00:43:52,460 --> 00:43:55,730
to marry Christina of Denmark.
559
00:43:55,730 --> 00:43:56,813
Who wouldn't?
560
00:43:59,371 --> 00:44:03,121
But Christina was lucky;
she turned him down.
561
00:44:05,815 --> 00:44:09,555
So Holbein was sent
back across the Channel
562
00:44:09,555 --> 00:44:12,972
to search further for prospective brides,
563
00:44:15,109 --> 00:44:18,835
and this time, it was a German princess,
564
00:44:18,835 --> 00:44:22,335
Anne of Cleves, who needed to be examined.
565
00:44:25,994 --> 00:44:30,059
Interestingly, Anne of
Cleves was painted on paper,
566
00:44:30,059 --> 00:44:33,161
presumably so the picture
could be rolled up more easily
567
00:44:33,161 --> 00:44:35,259
and taken back to England.
568
00:44:35,259 --> 00:44:38,612
And it was painted with egg tempera,
569
00:44:38,612 --> 00:44:42,580
which dries much more
quickly than oil paints.
570
00:44:42,580 --> 00:44:44,913
So this was done in a hurry.
571
00:44:48,268 --> 00:44:50,263
It's a peculiar picture.
572
00:44:50,263 --> 00:44:53,601
Look how she stares straight out at us.
573
00:44:53,601 --> 00:44:57,101
You can't look natural, staring like that.
574
00:44:58,655 --> 00:45:01,905
Holbein's art was beginning to stiffen.
575
00:45:05,871 --> 00:45:07,250
The king didn't mind.
576
00:45:07,250 --> 00:45:11,417
He liked Holbein's portrait of
Anne so much, he married her.
577
00:45:13,472 --> 00:45:16,755
But the marriage was a famous disaster.
578
00:45:16,755 --> 00:45:21,614
When Henry saw what she really
looked like in the flesh,
579
00:45:21,614 --> 00:45:23,840
rather than in Holbein's portrait of her,
580
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:28,007
he found her, and this is his
word, not mine, repulsive.
581
00:45:30,082 --> 00:45:35,058
So the marriage was never
consummated and quickly annulled,
582
00:45:35,058 --> 00:45:39,058
but at least Anne of
Cleves got out of it alive.
583
00:45:43,612 --> 00:45:46,442
Not everyone was as fortunate.
584
00:45:46,442 --> 00:45:50,392
Cromwell, who'd sent Holbein
to Europe to paint Anne,
585
00:45:50,392 --> 00:45:52,642
was blamed for the mistake,
586
00:45:54,267 --> 00:45:57,180
and a few weeks after the wedding,
587
00:45:57,180 --> 00:46:00,430
he was accused of treason and beheaded.
588
00:46:03,591 --> 00:46:07,674
Holbein had fetched up in
a historical nightmare.
589
00:46:10,620 --> 00:46:14,203
This is Catherine
Howard, wife number five.
590
00:46:15,854 --> 00:46:18,312
She lasted just over a year
591
00:46:18,312 --> 00:46:21,562
before Henry got crazily jealous again,
592
00:46:23,115 --> 00:46:25,198
and she too was beheaded.
593
00:46:28,009 --> 00:46:31,595
As for wife number six, Catherine Parr,
594
00:46:31,595 --> 00:46:34,945
there is no Holbein portrait of her,
595
00:46:34,945 --> 00:46:38,278
so we have no idea what she looked like.
596
00:46:42,062 --> 00:46:44,551
So that's one generation goeth,
597
00:46:44,551 --> 00:46:47,875
and another generation cometh,
598
00:46:47,875 --> 00:46:50,458
and the earth abideth for ever.
599
00:46:51,517 --> 00:46:52,600
Ecclesiastes.
600
00:46:57,698 --> 00:46:59,215
Holbein's most famous painting
601
00:46:59,215 --> 00:47:02,010
in the National Gallery in London
602
00:47:02,010 --> 00:47:04,843
is usually called The Ambassadors,
603
00:47:07,051 --> 00:47:09,718
but that's just its modern name.
604
00:47:13,210 --> 00:47:14,675
It's only been called that since
605
00:47:14,675 --> 00:47:16,584
the end of the 19th century.
606
00:47:16,584 --> 00:47:19,683
A more revealing and more accurate name
607
00:47:19,683 --> 00:47:23,850
would be something like Don't
Worry, It'll Soon Be Over.
608
00:47:27,449 --> 00:47:31,616
The Ambassadors shows two of
Holbein's most suave sitters.
609
00:47:32,549 --> 00:47:36,132
He is Jean de Dinteville,
French ambassador
610
00:47:37,142 --> 00:47:41,309
to the court of Henry VIII,
and this is his French friend,
611
00:47:43,587 --> 00:47:46,504
Georges de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur.
612
00:47:51,161 --> 00:47:53,635
So these two commissioned the picture
613
00:47:53,635 --> 00:47:57,077
and now they're standing
there, leaning casually
614
00:47:57,077 --> 00:48:01,244
on this shelf here, packed
with all these symbols.
615
00:48:03,939 --> 00:48:07,181
Interestingly, and very
relevantly, we know exactly
616
00:48:07,181 --> 00:48:11,419
how old they are because
Holbein's put it in the picture.
617
00:48:11,419 --> 00:48:14,224
Over here, on de Dinteville's dagger,
618
00:48:14,224 --> 00:48:17,557
it says, Aet suae 29, he is 29 in Latin.
619
00:48:20,572 --> 00:48:24,428
And up here, on this book
on which de Selve's leaning,
620
00:48:24,428 --> 00:48:26,595
Aetatis suae 25, he is 25.
621
00:48:29,671 --> 00:48:33,671
So an ambassador who's
29 and a bishop who's 25.
622
00:48:35,656 --> 00:48:37,989
Now, that's young, isn't it?
623
00:48:39,548 --> 00:48:41,048
So, it goes there.
624
00:48:42,035 --> 00:48:44,261
Lots of complex meanings have been
625
00:48:44,261 --> 00:48:46,678
proposed for The Ambassadors.
626
00:48:48,916 --> 00:48:53,083
Trying to understand the picture
has become a mini industry.
627
00:48:56,941 --> 00:49:01,811
Most of the mystery has
centered on this thing here,
628
00:49:01,811 --> 00:49:05,978
the famous Holbein skull,
which is distorted so heavily
629
00:49:07,498 --> 00:49:10,772
you can only see it from the side,
630
00:49:10,772 --> 00:49:14,105
from over here, and from pretty high up.
631
00:49:18,959 --> 00:49:23,115
Why the skull is distorted
is pretty obvious,
632
00:49:23,115 --> 00:49:26,032
as I'll be showing you in a moment.
633
00:49:27,402 --> 00:49:30,294
Why it's in the picture,
what it's doing here,
634
00:49:30,294 --> 00:49:34,377
is more than obvious; it's
completely unmissable.
635
00:49:39,084 --> 00:49:40,751
Here, I'll show you.
636
00:49:43,170 --> 00:49:46,920
Oh, and you also need
to notice that crucifix
637
00:49:48,187 --> 00:49:51,587
hidden behind the curtain at the top,
638
00:49:51,587 --> 00:49:55,754
because that is the most
important symbol in the picture.
639
00:50:01,094 --> 00:50:05,629
This is by Harmen Steenwyck,
painted much later,
640
00:50:05,629 --> 00:50:09,386
but as you can see, it's
got another skull in it,
641
00:50:09,386 --> 00:50:13,553
and this messy heap of objects,
just like The Ambassadors.
642
00:50:18,211 --> 00:50:21,294
It's what's called a vanitas picture.
643
00:50:22,245 --> 00:50:25,251
Vanitases appeared in
northern Renaissance art
644
00:50:25,251 --> 00:50:26,918
in the 15th century.
645
00:50:30,017 --> 00:50:33,790
This word, vanitas, comes
from here, from the Bible,
646
00:50:33,790 --> 00:50:36,558
and the book of Ecclesiastes.
647
00:50:36,558 --> 00:50:39,659
There's a wonderful doom-y
passage, right at the beginning,
648
00:50:39,659 --> 00:50:43,826
which goes, in Latin, Vanitas
vanitatum, omnia vanitas.
649
00:50:45,730 --> 00:50:48,563
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
650
00:50:54,835 --> 00:50:58,623
This, though, isn't about
vanity in the modern sense,
651
00:50:58,623 --> 00:51:03,559
or those TV presenters looking
at themselves in the mirror.
652
00:51:03,559 --> 00:51:07,726
This is biblical vanity,
where nothing lasts forever.
653
00:51:12,590 --> 00:51:15,284
So what this picture's
doing is reminding us all
654
00:51:15,284 --> 00:51:18,959
of the ultimate uselessness of life,
655
00:51:18,959 --> 00:51:21,750
and all this stuff in here, the flute,
656
00:51:21,750 --> 00:51:25,167
the books, that beautiful Japanese sword,
657
00:51:26,511 --> 00:51:29,678
all that is here today, gone tomorrow,
658
00:51:31,468 --> 00:51:35,635
because what awaits us all,
where we're all heading is here.
659
00:51:41,954 --> 00:51:45,367
You can see the same meaning
in another famous picture
660
00:51:45,367 --> 00:51:48,617
at the National Gallery, by Frans Hals.
661
00:51:51,096 --> 00:51:54,267
In the Frans Hals, the young
man is looking at a skull
662
00:51:54,267 --> 00:51:56,391
because that's his future.
663
00:51:56,391 --> 00:52:00,510
However young you are,
this is where it'll end.
664
00:52:00,510 --> 00:52:02,427
So back at the Holbein.
665
00:52:08,370 --> 00:52:10,918
All this stuff here, the
things on the shelves,
666
00:52:10,918 --> 00:52:14,613
are like the objects
piled up in the Steenwyck,
667
00:52:14,613 --> 00:52:18,363
earthly goodies, wonderful
while you're here,
668
00:52:19,240 --> 00:52:21,240
useless when you're not.
669
00:52:24,427 --> 00:52:28,945
The top shelf is packed
with scientific instruments
670
00:52:28,945 --> 00:52:31,028
for working out the time.
671
00:52:32,595 --> 00:52:35,512
Sundials, clocks, celestial globes.
672
00:52:39,441 --> 00:52:42,965
The sun riseth, says
Ecclesiastes doom-ily,
673
00:52:42,965 --> 00:52:45,798
and the sun goeth down and hasteth
674
00:52:47,511 --> 00:52:50,011
to the place where he ariseth.
675
00:52:54,189 --> 00:52:58,502
So all these beautiful instruments
for working out the time,
676
00:52:58,502 --> 00:53:01,835
all this knowledge is basically useless,
677
00:53:02,740 --> 00:53:04,490
just a heap of stuff.
678
00:53:05,653 --> 00:53:07,690
The bottom shelf, meanwhile, is full of
679
00:53:07,690 --> 00:53:10,607
earthly pleasures, things we enjoy.
680
00:53:12,359 --> 00:53:16,526
A lute for playing music,
this bag of flutes over here.
681
00:53:18,676 --> 00:53:21,926
Look, a book of hymns by Martin Luther.
682
00:53:29,065 --> 00:53:33,232
And this is where the picture
gets sneaky, very sneaky.
683
00:53:34,695 --> 00:53:38,612
Look again at that lute,
look really carefully.
684
00:53:40,542 --> 00:53:43,375
See? One of the strings is broken,
685
00:53:46,666 --> 00:53:50,833
and traditionally, a broken
string is a symbol of discord.
686
00:53:53,775 --> 00:53:55,692
Something's gone wrong.
687
00:53:58,641 --> 00:54:01,737
What's gone wrong is Luther.
688
00:54:01,737 --> 00:54:05,070
It's no accident that
the Lutheran hymn book
689
00:54:05,070 --> 00:54:09,380
is directly below the lute
with the broken string.
690
00:54:09,380 --> 00:54:13,380
That is a deliberate
piece, a vanitas symbolism.
691
00:54:17,631 --> 00:54:19,478
Remember, when this picture was painted
692
00:54:19,478 --> 00:54:22,228
in 1533, no one was sure yet that
693
00:54:23,593 --> 00:54:27,593
the Protestant Revolution
was going to succeed.
694
00:54:27,593 --> 00:54:29,512
How could they have known that?
695
00:54:29,512 --> 00:54:31,429
It hadn't happened yet.
696
00:54:34,411 --> 00:54:36,603
So what a lot of people
would have assumed,
697
00:54:36,603 --> 00:54:39,157
particularly a Catholic bishop
698
00:54:39,157 --> 00:54:42,532
and a French Catholic ambassador
699
00:54:42,532 --> 00:54:46,699
is that Luther's revolt was
just a flash in the pan.
700
00:54:49,343 --> 00:54:52,093
That is where the skull comes in.
701
00:54:55,033 --> 00:54:57,569
The skull, right at the
front of the picture,
702
00:54:57,569 --> 00:55:01,287
is so big, it trumps everything else.
703
00:55:01,287 --> 00:55:03,675
Compared with this big skull,
704
00:55:03,675 --> 00:55:06,873
this little bit of
discord here is nothing.
705
00:55:06,873 --> 00:55:09,790
So, why is this skull so distorted?
706
00:55:11,708 --> 00:55:14,041
That's where it gets clever.
707
00:55:19,917 --> 00:55:23,702
This is Boy Bitten By A
Lizard, by Caravaggio.
708
00:55:23,702 --> 00:55:27,048
So, it's another young man and a lizard
709
00:55:27,048 --> 00:55:29,629
is biting him because the lizard in art
710
00:55:29,629 --> 00:55:32,712
is traditionally a symbol of old age.
711
00:55:34,311 --> 00:55:38,728
And to amplify that
meaning, that life is short,
712
00:55:38,728 --> 00:55:42,569
very short, Caravaggio's also included
713
00:55:42,569 --> 00:55:45,736
this beautiful reflection in the vase.
714
00:55:52,125 --> 00:55:56,292
The reflection, like youth
itself, will only last a moment.
715
00:55:59,591 --> 00:56:01,924
It's another vanitas symbol.
716
00:56:04,901 --> 00:56:06,401
So in the Holbein,
717
00:56:11,023 --> 00:56:13,657
the skull is like the reflection.
718
00:56:13,657 --> 00:56:15,894
It can only be seen for a moment,
719
00:56:15,894 --> 00:56:18,311
and only if you're over here.
720
00:56:26,232 --> 00:56:28,168
I reckon this must have
been hanging in a room
721
00:56:28,168 --> 00:56:30,780
that you entered from
the side, from over here,
722
00:56:30,780 --> 00:56:33,968
and when you looked
over, you saw the skull
723
00:56:33,968 --> 00:56:36,383
and that was a shock.
724
00:56:36,383 --> 00:56:40,144
But then, you saw the
picture from the front
725
00:56:40,144 --> 00:56:42,970
The skull wasn't there anymore.
726
00:56:42,970 --> 00:56:46,181
It was gone because the skull,
727
00:56:46,181 --> 00:56:49,264
death itself, is just another vanity.
728
00:56:53,866 --> 00:56:58,033
Like the Lutheran hymn book,
like the broken string,
729
00:56:59,207 --> 00:57:03,711
like the lifetimes of the
bishop and the ambassador,
730
00:57:03,711 --> 00:57:06,294
death means nothing in the end.
731
00:57:07,820 --> 00:57:09,984
It's just another illusion.
732
00:57:09,984 --> 00:57:12,343
All that really matters,
733
00:57:12,343 --> 00:57:16,051
and I told you the crucifix was important,
734
00:57:16,051 --> 00:57:19,968
is the eternal truth
hidden behind the curtain.
735
00:57:22,066 --> 00:57:25,877
In this great and sneaky masterpiece,
736
00:57:25,877 --> 00:57:30,044
Holbein is reminding us that
the world of Henry VIII,
737
00:57:31,203 --> 00:57:33,953
all that discord, all that death,
738
00:57:34,910 --> 00:57:37,327
is just like everything else.
739
00:57:39,117 --> 00:57:41,284
Here today, gone tomorrow.
740
00:57:49,795 --> 00:57:52,962
(upbeat string music)
741
00:57:54,649 --> 00:57:57,662
Holbein himself didn't last long.
742
00:57:57,662 --> 00:58:00,745
He died in 1543 from what they called
743
00:58:02,192 --> 00:58:05,025
the sweating sickness, the plague.
744
00:58:07,039 --> 00:58:07,872
He was 45.
745
00:58:11,016 --> 00:58:14,181
He left behind some of
the greatest portraiture
746
00:58:14,181 --> 00:58:17,681
of the Renaissance, a Tudor cast so vivid,
747
00:58:19,847 --> 00:58:23,180
you can feel their breath on your cheek.
748
00:58:28,208 --> 00:58:31,691
If Holbein hadn't fetched
up in England when he did,
749
00:58:31,691 --> 00:58:34,510
I'm absolutely certain that we wouldn't be
750
00:58:34,510 --> 00:58:37,962
as obsessed with the Tudors as we are.
751
00:58:37,962 --> 00:58:42,045
By making the age of Henry
VIII so damn tangible,
752
00:58:43,240 --> 00:58:46,907
Holbein forced it into
our thoughts forever.
753
00:58:49,902 --> 00:58:53,723
You know, when I flick through this,
754
00:58:53,723 --> 00:58:57,495
that marvelous Folly book
he drew when he was a boy,
755
00:58:57,495 --> 00:59:01,662
I can't help wondering how much
more there could have been.
756
00:59:06,036 --> 00:59:09,569
When you remember the coruscating realism
757
00:59:09,569 --> 00:59:12,402
of his religious art or the pathos
758
00:59:13,269 --> 00:59:17,352
and sadness he found in
the face of his own wife,
759
00:59:18,711 --> 00:59:22,878
when you consider the devious
complexity of The Ambassadors,
760
00:59:24,161 --> 00:59:26,994
that's a lot of might have been's.
761
00:59:29,702 --> 00:59:33,369
It wasn't just Anne
Boleyn or Anne of Cleves
762
00:59:36,189 --> 00:59:40,064
or Sir Thomas More,
whose misfortune it was
763
00:59:40,064 --> 00:59:42,731
to encounter Henry the Terrible.
764
00:59:44,980 --> 00:59:47,897
That was Holbein's misfortune too.
58332
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