HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger
(b. 1497, Augsburg, d. 1543, London)

Double Portrait of Sir Thomas Godsalve and His Son John (detail)

1528
Resin tempera on oak
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

Using a pen held in his right hand, 47-year-old Thomas Godsalve from Norwich has just written his name and age in Latin on a piece of paper. Unlike Erasmus in the Basel and Paris portraits, the sitter has paused during writing and is not concentrating on the text; he is in fact looking up and has involuntarily raised the tip of the pen slightly.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.