Editing Hans Holbein the Younger (section)

=== Influences ===
[[File:Lais of Corinth, by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpg|thumb|upright|Holbein's ''[[Lais of Corinth (Hans Holbein the Younger)|Lais of Corinth]]'', 1526, reveals the influence of [[Leonardo da Vinci|Leonardo]]. Oil and tempera on limewood, [[Kunstmuseum Basel]].]]

The first influence on Holbein was his father, [[Hans Holbein the Elder]], an accomplished religious artist and portraitist<ref>Ganz, 5–6.</ref> who passed on his techniques as a religious artist and his gifts as a portraitist to his son.<ref>Müller, ''et al.'', 29–30.</ref> The young Holbein learned his craft in his father's workshop in [[Augsburg]], a city with a thriving book trade, where [[woodcut]] and [[engraving]] flourished. Augsburg also acted as one of the chief "ports of entry" into Germany for the ideas of the [[Italian Renaissance]].<ref>Wilson, 16; North, 12.</ref> By the time Holbein began his apprenticeship under Hans Herbster in Basel, he was already steeped in the late Gothic style, with its unsparing realism and emphasis on line, which influenced him throughout his life.<ref>Strong, 9.</ref> In Basel, he was favoured by [[humanist]] patrons, whose ideas helped form his vision as a mature artist.<ref>Bätschmann & Griener, 11.</ref>

During his Swiss years, when he may have visited Italy, Holbein added an Italian element to his stylistic vocabulary. Scholars note the influence of [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s "[[sfumato]]" (smoky) technique on his work, for example in his ''Lais of Corinth''.<ref>Buck, 41–43; Bätschmann and Griener, 135; Ganz, 4; Claussen, 50. ''Venus and Amor'' is sometimes considered a workshop portrait. Holbein also painted his own, very different, version of ''The Last Supper'', based on Leonardo's ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]'' in Milan.</ref> From the Italians, Holbein learned the art of single-point [[perspective (graphical)|perspective]] and the use of antique motifs and architectural forms. In this, he may have been influenced by [[Andrea Mantegna]].<ref>Strong, 9–10; North, 14; Sander, 17–18. The influence of [[Andrea del Sarto]] and [[Andrea Solari]] has also been detected in Holbein's work, as well as that of the Venetian [[Giovanni Bellini]].</ref> The decorative detail recedes in his late portraits, though the calculated precision remains. Despite assimilating Italian techniques and Reformation theology, Holbein's art in many ways extended the Gothic tradition.<ref>Strong, 7, 10.</ref>

His portrait style, for example, remained distinct from the more sensuous technique of [[Titian]], and from the [[Mannerism]] of [[William Scrots]], Holbein's successor as King's Painter.<ref>Strong, 7, 10.</ref> Holbein's portraiture, particularly his drawings, had more in common with that of [[Jean Clouet]], which he may have seen during his visit to France in 1524.<ref>Bätschmann and Griener, 134. His two drawings, done in France, of statues of [[John, Duke of Berry|Duc Jean de Berry]] (1340–1416) and his wife [[Joan II, Countess of Auvergne|Jeanne de Boulogne]] (d. 1438) "suggest that Holbein learned the new technique in France".</ref> He adopted Clouet's method of drawing with coloured chalks on a plain ground, as well as his care over preliminary portraits for their own sake.<ref>Strong, 8–10; Bätschmann and Griener, 134–35; Müller, ''et al.'', 30, 317. Bätschmann and Griener are not convinced that Holbein learned this directly from Clouet; they suggest he learned it from a mixture of French and Italian models. And Müller points out that, in any case, the technique was not unknown in Augsburg and Switzerland.</ref> During his second stay in England, Holbein learned the technique of [[limning]], as practised by [[Lucas Horenbout]]. In his last years, he raised the art of the [[portrait miniature]] to its first peak of brilliance.<ref>Strong, 7; North, 30; Rowlands, 88–90. [[Karel van Mander]] wrote in the early 17th century that "Lucas" taught Holbein illumination, but John Rowlands downplays Horenbout's influence on Holbein's miniatures, which he believes follow the techniques of Jean Clouet and the French school.</ref>