The Ambassadors by Holbein

The Ambassadors (1533), by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8 - 1543)

The Ambassadors by Holbein is a famous example of Anamorphosis. Do you see the strange object on the floor? Close your left eye, put your face close to the computer screen near the right side of the picture. You will then see a skull! If you can't get it to work, you can cheat and look at a picture of it.

As you can imagine, there are lots of web sites devoted to this picture. Here are some of the better ones.

• The best way to find out more about the painting is to read the book Holbein's Ambassadors, Making and Meaning by Susan Foister, Ashok Roy, and Martin Wyld.
• To see a larger picture, you can try out the Image Viewer at MyStudios.com.
• The National Gallery has redisplayed the painting.
• Art of Anamorphosis by Phillip Kent.
• Hans Holbein's The Ambassadors by the Art Department at the State University of New York, College at Oneonta. This site has an excellent explanation of the mathematical and astronomical objects in the picture.

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