HOLBEIN, HANS, the elder (c. 146o-1524), belonged to a celebrated family of painters in practice at Augsburg and Basle from the close of the 15th to the middle of the i6th century. He was born at Augsburg between 1460 and 1470, the son of Michael Holbein, a tanner ; the brother of Sigismund and the father of Ambrosius and of Hans Holbein the Younger, all three painters. His name appears in the books of the tax-gatherers of Augsburg from 1494 onwards. Previous to that date he was a painter of name, and he executed in 1493, for the abbey at Weingarten, the wings of an altar-piece representing Joachim's Offering, the Nativ ity of the Virgin, Mary's Presentation in the Temple, and the Presentation of Christ, which now hang in separate panels in the cathedral of Augsburg. In these pieces and others of the same period, for instance in the altarpiece from the Chapel of St. Afra at Augsburg (1496) two parts of which are in the bishop's palace at Eichstatt, and in the "Coronation of the Virgin" in the Museum of Basle, we mark the impress of the school of Van der Weyden. In 1501 Holbein went to Frankfurt to paint the high altar for the Dominican monastery. In this task he was assisted by his younger brother, Sigismund, and by Leonhard Beck (museum at Frankfurt). After this date there is a marked change of style due, it is suggested, to his coming in touch with Mathias Grune wald in Frankfurt. In later works, such as the Basilica of St. Paul (15o4) in the gallery of Augsburg, the wane of Flemish influence is apparent. But this altarpiece, with its quaint illustra tions of St. Paul's life and martyrdom, is not alone of interest because its execution is characteristic of old Holbein. It is equally so because it contains portraits of the master himself, accompanied by his two sons, the painters Ambrose (c. 1519) and Hans the younger. Later pictures, such as the Passion series in the Fiirstenberg gallery at Donaueschingen, or the "Martyrdom of St. Sebastian" in the Munich Pinakothek, contain similar por traits, the original drawings of which are found in old Holbein's sketch-book at Berlin. A self portrait in Silverpoint is in the museum at Chantilly.
After 1516 Hans Holbein the elder appeared as a defaulter in the registers of the tax-gatherers at Augsburg. He died at Issen heim in 1524. His art is distinguished for its delicate colour, its deep soft shadows ; and for its lifelike portraiture. The elder Holbein belonged to the transition period, which preceded the Renaissance and in his later work he began to introduce Italian Renaissance ornaments. He was a prolific artist. Earlier than the Basilica of St. Paul, already mentioned, is the Basilica of St. Mary Maggiore, and a Passion in 11 pieces, in the Augsburg gallery, both executed in 1499. The Passion of Donaueschingen was finished after 1502, in which year was completed the Passion of Kaisheim, a conglomerate of 16 panels now divided amongst the galleries of Munich and Augsburg. Two altarpieces of the same class, commissioned for the monastery of St. Moritz at Augsburg in 1504-08, have been dispersed and lost. 1512 is the date of "The Miracle of St. Ulrich" for the Augsburg gallery. A portrait of an old man, dated 1513, is in the collection of Count Lancko ronski at Vienna. One of the most important works of the late period is "The Well of Life" (1519) in the museum at Lisbon. The sketch-books of Berlin, and the drawings at the museum of Basle give a lively picture of the forms and dress of Augsburg residents at the beginning of the i6th century. They comprise many portraits. He also made designs for glass painting. In the cathedral of Eichstatt in the churches of St. Ulrich at Augs burg and of St. James at Straubing windows designed by him are still to be seen.
See C. Glaser, Hans Holbein der Altere (Leipzig, 1908) .