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HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger: Portrait of Nikolaus Kratzer

🖼 Portrait of Nikolaus Kratzer, 1528
Tempera on oak
83 × 67 cm
Paris, France

Precise draftsmanship renders a mathematician in three-quarter view, surrounded by astronomical instruments and geometric tools that define his profession. Holbein's unflinching realism established the Northern Renaissance portrait as a vehicle for intellectual identity and professional status.

The story of art
The story of art
E. H. Gombrich
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