Editing Hans Holbein the Younger (section)

=== Basel, 1528–1532 ===
In August 1528, Holbein bought a house in Basel in St.Johanns-Vorstadt and became the neighbor of [[Hieronymus Froben]].<ref name=":03">{{Cite book|last=Stein|first=Wilhelm|title=Holbein der Jüngere|publisher=Julius Bard Verlag|year=1929|location=Berlin|pages=166|language=de}}</ref> For this house he paid a third in advance.<ref name=":03" /> He presumably returned home to preserve his citizenship, since he had been granted only a two-year leave of absence.<ref>Strong, 4.</ref> Enriched by his success in England, Holbein bought a second neighboring house in 1531<ref>''Holbein, Zeichnungen vom Hofe Heinrichs VIII''. p.11</ref> for which he initially advanced only a seventh of the price and was to pay a yearly rate during the following six years.<ref name=":03" /> 

During this period in Basel, he painted ''[[Portrait of the Artist's Family (Holbein)|The Artist's Family]]'', showing Elsbeth with the couple's two eldest children, Philipp and Katherina, evoking images of the Virgin and Child with [[St John the Baptist]].<ref>Bätschmann & Griener, 177.</ref> Art historian John Rowlands sees this work as "one of the most moving portraits in art, from an artist, too, who always characterized his sitters with a guarded restraint".<ref name="Rowlands, 76">Rowlands, 76.</ref>
[[File:Retrato de la esposa del artista con sus dos hijos, por Hans Holbein el Joven.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[Portrait of the Artist's Family (Holbein)|Portrait of the Artist's Family]]'', {{circa|1528}}. Oil and tempera on paper, cut out and mounted on wood. [[Kunstmuseum Basel]].]]

Basel had become a turbulent city in Holbein's absence. Reformers, swayed by the ideas of [[Zwingli]], carried out acts of [[Beeldenstorm|iconoclasm]] and banned imagery in churches. In April 1529, the free-thinking Erasmus felt obliged to leave his former haven for [[Freiburg im Breisgau]].<ref>Wilson, 156–57.</ref> The iconoclasts probably destroyed some of Holbein's religious artwork,<ref>Buck, 38–41; Bätschmann & Griener, 105–107; North, 25. The only known damage to a Holbein work was to [[:File:The Last Supper, by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpg|''The Last Supper'']], part of an altarpiece. The outer boards were lost during iconoclastic riots and the surviving section, on which only nine of the apostles can be seen, was later clumsily repaired.</ref> though the paintings on the organ doors of the [[Basel Minster]] were saved.<ref name=":03" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Die Orgeln und Organisten im Basler Münster|url=http://basler-muensterkonzerte.ch/die-orgeln-und-organisten-im-basler-muenster/index.html|access-date=2022-01-14|website=basler-muensterkonzerte.ch}}</ref> Evidence for Holbein's religious views is fragmentary and inconclusive. "The religious side of his paintings had always been ambiguous," suggests art historian John North, "and so it remained".<ref name="North, 24">North, 24.</ref> According to a register compiled to ensure that all major citizens subscribed to the new doctrines: "Master Hans Holbein, the painter, says that we must be better informed about the [holy] table before approaching it".<ref>Doctrinal issues concerning the communion were at the heart of Reformation theological controversy.</ref> In 1530, the authorities called Holbein to account for failing to attend the reformed communion.<ref>Buck, 134.</ref> Shortly afterwards, however, he was listed among those "who have no serious objections and wish to go along with other Christians".<ref>Wilson, 163; North, 23.</ref>

Holbein evidently retained favour under the new order. The reformist council paid him a retaining fee of 50 florins and commissioned him to resume work on the Council Chamber frescoes. They now chose themes from the [[Old Testament]] instead of the previous stories from classical history and allegory. Holbein's frescoes of [[Rehoboam]] and of the meeting between [[Saul]] and [[Samuel]] were more simply designed than their predecessors.<ref>Ganz, 7. See: [[:File:Rehoboam. Fragment of Wall Painting from Basel Town Hall Council Chamber, by Hans Holbein the Younger..jpg|''Rehoboam'', a fragment from a Council Chamber mural]], and [[:File:Samuel Cursing Saul, by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpg|''Samuel Cursing Saul'', a design for a Council Chamber mural]].</ref> Holbein worked for traditional clients at the same time. His old patron Jakob Meyer paid him to add figures and details to the family altarpiece he had painted in 1526. Holbein's last commission in this period was the decoration of two clock faces on the city gate in 1531.<ref name="Rowlands, 76" /> The reduced levels of [[patronage]] in Basel may have prompted his decision to return to England early in 1532.<ref>Strong, 4; Buck, 6. According to a letter written by the Basel student Rudolf Gwalther to the Swiss reformer [[Heinrich Bullinger]] in 1538, Holbein "considered conditions in that realm to be happy".</ref>