Holbein's "The Ambassadors"

ans Holbein came to England twice. The first brief period began in 1526, but only two years later he returned to Basel in Switzerland, where he had spent the majority of his career. However, when in 1532 the 35 year old German artist returned, it was with a commitment which would last for the remaining 11 years of his life.

A commission from Jean Dinteville, French ambassador to the court of King Henry VIII, offered the perfect opportunity for Holbein to announce his arrival to the wealthy nobles and merchants who would be his patrons.

It was an opportunity he would seize spectacularly. The uncharacteristically huge portrait, painted in oils and tempera across ten oak planks, depicts Dinteville and Georges de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, who was visiting him from France during the spring of 1533. It magnificently displays the artist's skills, particularly the sumptuous use of colours and textures in which he was strongly influenced by the work of the Renaissance painters such as Leonardo da Vinci. It was obviously a work of which he was proud, as it is one of the very few which he signed with his full name (on the dark area of floor behind Dinteville on the left).

The sitters stand to either side of table covered in an array of astronomical and musical instruments - a strange selection given the occupations of Dinteville and de Selve, but containing personal references such as the labelling on the globe of Polisy, the location of Dinteville’s chateau where the portrait was subsequently to hang. Each item is rendered with a totally convincing realism, a combination of faultless perspectives, light and shade, and extremely fine detail.

These life-like qualities extend to the beautiful fabrics, particularly in the clothing. Silk, satin, fur, velvet and the patterned damask of the curtain behind are almost tangible, and are enhanced by touches such as the tiny cuts in the silk of Dinteville’s cuffs, a fashion of the time.

The most unusual feature is what might at first glance appear to be a rug on the marble floor. It is in fact an anamorphosis - a distorted image - and if viewed from the upper right edge of the painting it reveals itself to be a skull, symbolising death.

The years have not always been kind to the painting. The natural movements of the planks in response to changes in temperature and humidity, and water damage at some point in its history, had caused loss of paint, and earlier attempts at restoration had masked much of it under dull varnish and inferior paint work. In 1992 the National Gallery, its custodians, decided to embark on its restoration. It was suggested that non-original paint work should be made obviously different, a technique much used in recent Italian restorations, but this idea was discarded as it was felt it would detract from the overall effect of the work.

Now, after three years work in which the latest technology has been combined with many hundreds of hours of meticulous artistry, it is now as close as possible to its original glory. Coincident with the 500th anniversary of Holbein’s birth, visitors can once again appreciate the vivid splendour of this masterpiece.

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