[MR] Wikipedia: Portrait of a Merchant, 16th Century

Garth Groff and Sally Sanford mallardlodge1000 at gmail.com
Sat Feb 3 02:19:12 PST 2018


Noble Friends,

Today's featured Wikipedia image is a 1532 portrait of the German merchant
Georg Giese. This painting was made by Hans Holbein the Younger, who
painted images of several Hanseatic League merchants working in London at
that time.

The image is remarkable for its carefully arranged objects, including
quills, ink pots, books, scales, seals, keys, etc. It is a goldmine of
period details. Also note Giese's hat, a so-called Tudor flat cap or Tudor
bonnet, a headpiece that seems to have also been favored by Germans but was
also seen all over Europe at that time. The painting on Wikipedia can be
blown up to a fairly large size so you can really appreciate the detail:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Giese

More Holbein portraits, including five others from the Steelyard, can be
seen at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Male_
portraits_by_Hans_Holbein_der_Jüngere , though none have as much rich
detail of the Giese portrait. Do take note of the two portraits with the
subjects holding hawks.

There is more about Hans Holbein the Younger at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Holbein_the_Younger

The Steelyard was a Hanseatic League trade depot in the heart of London
during the 15th and 16th centuries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steelyard

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿


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