Core A Hans Holbein The Ambassadors

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Contemplative life

active life

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Celestial sphere

Terrestrial sphere

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Celestial sphere

Terrestrial sphere

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Polyhedral Sundial and the Equinoctial Dial

Kratzer was making something similar to the polyhedral sundial in the pinting in the top right corner, which was another painting by Hans Holbein. These two paintings show a consistency between Holbein’s works, and relates to the celestial theme of the top row because of its use is to map out the time of day. This is another example of the Europeans’ tendency to represent Islamic culture as their own, because it was influenced by Islamic sundials, whose purpose was to tell the time of day for prayers. One could probably guess that it lost that time-of prayer calculating purpose entirely, though, when incorporated into European society. The Equinoctial dial was also in the painting, and in both the Ambassadors painting and the painting above the dial was disassembled.

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In 16th century Europe, trade was common with the Muslim world, and textiles such as the carpet in this painting of the ambassadors were a very common commodity. This specific carpet was imported from Anatolia, which at the time was controlled by the Ottomans. This carpet is commonly called a 'Holbein carpet' because, the painter of the painter's name was Hans Holbein the Younger, who painted several of these carpets over the years. Muslim textiles were highly viewed in Renaissance age Europe for their intricacy and beauty, and many wealthy figures such as the ambassadors purchased them to flaunt their wealth. Muslim textiles greatly influenced the use and production of textiles in Europe to the point that Europeans made textiles such as these and called them their own, refusing to give credit to the original inspiration.

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These are two more paintings where 'Holbein carpets' were used. the painting below is called "The Somerset House Conference", depicting Spanish and English delegates negotiating a treaty. It was painted in 1604, around the time Holbein painted his works. On the table is a large carpet that was imported from the Muslim world. The painter uses a carpet to display the delegate's wealth. At the time, these rugs were high in value, and a very prestigious part of the Renaissance world. The painting to the left is called The Merchant Georg Gisze, and was painted by Holbein in 1532. The Merchant was painted with a similar carpet inspired by an Islamic one. These Middle Eastern carpets were often painted with merchants such as him to display their wealth and power, as well as their ability to trade.

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Book of Math

This book featured in the painting is a book of mathematical expressions and problems. The Hindu-Arab Numerals were introduced to Europe from the Muslim world, specifically the mathematician Al-Kwarzimi. Al-Kwarzimi introduced ideas such as the place value, algebra and decimal points. These skills were very useful for studying in Europe during the Renaissance as they advanced the skill and knowledge of the Europeans. Another factor that helped with this book's creation was the adoption of paper in Europe. The Europeans transitioned from parchment to paper during the Renaissance, which made it much easier to print books. How did this happen? Well, with the expansion of Islam to Spain and Europeans' trade routes with the Muslim world, paper was slowly introduced to Europe and eventually became a staple for spreading information and for scholars. It took time for Europe to embrace paper, but once it did...it sparked significant changes in society.

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The Terrestrial Globe

This globe is a 3D model of Earth based off of that of Johannes Schooner, a German scholar who lived from 1477-1577 CE See the two red lines on the globe?There is one crossing between Brazil- a line made with the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, and one that divides Portuguese and the Spice Island. Now, what do these lines reveal? 1. The fight for power and land by colonial rulers 2. The different trade routes and treaties being put in place in Europe 3. The expeditions that were being sent out to seek different parts of the world These globes also took a lot of mathematical skill to create and paint. During the Renaissance, the Europeans studied works from many Greek and Islamic scholars, including al-Kwarizmi and al-Kindi.Al-Kwarizmi introduced the Hindu-Arabic numerals, as well as algebra, to the Europeans. These two fundemental skills/ideas were crucial in the making of this Globe as well as many other inventions and skills.

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The Armillary Sphere

The image is from a work of art called Studiolo from Ducal Palace in Gubbio. It also has an armillary sphere and was a work of art from Europe with Islamic aspects to it. The sphere was used to represent the stars' movement around the Earth, with the sun at the center. Al-Burini calculated the circumference of the Earth with almost perfect accuracy. The fact that its purpose relates to space relates to the theme of the row on which it was on because the row was the Celestial Sphere. That corresponds to innovations in the Muslim world, because they followed the stars, (as shown by their embrace of the Astrolabe.) The first Islamic Celestial sphere was made in the 9th century by Abbas Ibn Firnas.This particular example also captures the significance of Christianity in Europe, as it depicts the sky over Rome and indicates the primacy of the Catholic Church.

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The guy on the left is Jean de Dinteville and the guy on the right is Georges de Selve. Jean de Dinteville(on the left) was an ambassador from France who was in England to keep an Eye on King Henry 8th. They were painted because they wanted a portrait. At the time, people who were rich really wanted portraits of themselves in order to brag about their wealth. and status.

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Perspective

The painting on the left which was painted by an artist namd Andrea Mantegna, and named the "Dead Christ" because of the subject of the painting,; it is a great example of the use of foreshortened perspective in European Art.

The lute in this painting was painted in what is called "foreshortened perspective" which is the condensing or shortening of an object so that it maintains its shape. This tactic was incredibly impressive both at the time and in the present, as it required a vast knowledge of proportion and mathematics to complete.

Explanation:

Foreshortened perspective, which required a lot of math, was largely made possible because of the information Europeans got from the Muslims scholars, who introduced many mathematical skills such as algebra that helped the Europeans gain knowlege of proportion, as well as decimals, which helped with the preciseness of these paintings.

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Book of Hymns

The book of hymns is the Lutheran Hymn known as Veni Sancte Spiritus, a hymn to the Holy Spirit, traditionally invoked as a force for church unification. It was most likely put in to represent the Protestant Reformation and the hope of unification of Western Europe, similar to the broken lute string which represents the split up of the Church. Holbein was very accurate with his work,and today historians are able to tell that it is the specific hymn stated. This ties back into the influence of Islam in Western Europe because of the paper that was necessary to have the book itself. Through trade, paper became a big influence and Western European culture.

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Because of the trade of paper and other resources, Europeans were able to use various inventions such as the printing press which was put to use in 1454 by Johannes Gutenberg. Al Haythem was a trailblazing Muslim scientist who studied a lot about perspective which ties into the “memento mori” at the bottom of the page because when looked at from the right, the lopsided shape turns into a perfectly measured skull. He also developed the camera obscura which proved that light travels in a straight line. “Memento mori” means to remember death and is signified by the skull. Other examples of “Memento Mori” are wilted flowers, fruit (because it will decay), and of course, skulls. With the crucifix in the top left corner of the painting, the viewer can tell that the rise of Christianity was prominent in the artist's mind while creating the piece as well.

<-- Usage of Perspective

Paper:

Textiles/Music:

Maths:

SOURCES:-Emergence of the Renaissance: Segment I Commerce and Travel -Emergence of the Renaissance: Segment III: Science and Techno -The Emergence of the Renaissance: Segment IV: The Visual Arts -From SmartHistory.org: The Carpet and the Globe: Holbein’s The Ambassadors Reframed (contains video) -From Artsy.net: Decoding the Symbolism in Hans Holbein’s The Ambassadors -From Stanford Libraries: Mapping the Islamic World -From JStor: The Scientific Instruments in The Ambassadors -From Smithsonian: Lute -From the Met: Islamic Carpets in European Paintings -From Wikimedia: Mantegna's "The Dead Christ" (an example of perspective) -From Cities of Light: Ziryab and the Court of Cordoba (info on the history of the lute) -The packet The National Gallery UK - Hans Holbein The Younger The Ambassadors