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HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger: Self-Portrait

🖼 Self-Portrait, 1542-43
Coloured chalks and pen, heightened with gold
230 × 180 cm
Florence, Italy

Piercing eyes and precise detail dominate this frontal portrait, rendered with the technical mastery of Northern Renaissance painting. Holbein's unflinching self-examination established the artist as both skilled craftsman and intellectual—elevating portraiture beyond mere likeness to psychological insight.

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