Hans Holbein the Younger was born in the city of Augsburg, Bavaria, around the year 1497. His father, Hans Holbein the Elder, had built a strong reputation as a recognized artist and a skilled portraitist, from which his son soon followed. During Holbein the Younger's life, he had many mediums of art, which he created. Early on he illustrated books, painted pictures and portraits, designed stained glass windows, and created designs for woodcuts. He was very popular, not only in his hometown but also in Basel, Switzerland, and all around Europe. Because of his overwhelming popularity, later in his life, Holbein had to leave his wife and two children in order to make a living working for King Henry the VIII in England around the year 1582. Working as Henry's personal portraitist, Holbein's duties included creating portraits of possible brides for the king. It was said that Holbein's portraits captured something that the untrained eye could not see. While working under the king, Holbein painted such a captivating portrait of Anne Bolyn of Cleaves that Henry chose her as his second wife. Holbein's portraits reflected his strong religious beliefs and his philosophy that individualism is very important; which is shown through his many portraits.
             The style in which Holbein painted was very much like that of his fellow Renaissance painters, the difference being only that of pure skill in capturing the true images of those he painted. Becoming a devout Christian later in his life, many of Holbein's earlier and later portraits reflected many Christian and political issues. Hidden in many of his paintings, messages are painted, telling of not only when the paintings were completed, but also what was going on during that time in history. His most famous of these types of paintings is The Ambassadors. That painting consisted of two famous politicians on a visit to London to see the king. All of this information was gathered through c...