
The Ambassadors
1533 · National Gallery, London
Two men pose with globes, sundials and a lute with a broken string, and a smear on the floor turns into a skull from the side.
★ 8.5

Two men pose with globes, sundials and a lute with a broken string, and a smear on the floor turns into a skull from the side.

Jupiter has turned himself into a grey cloud, and a dim face and hand come out of the mist to hold her.

Cold competence and nothing else. Holbein painted him as a near-pendant to Thomas More, whom Cromwell helped send to the scaffold.