The Ambassadors

The Ambassadors is a panel portrait painted in 1533 by Hans Holbein the Younger during the Northern renaissance. It depicts Jean de Dinteville, a French ambassador, and Georges de Selve, a Catholic bishop, set against a backdrop rich in symbolic items. The work is renowned for its intricate oil paint techniques and for the famous anamorphic skull that appears distorted unless viewed from a specific angle. Franny Moyle suggests Elizabeth I’s mother, Anne Boleyn, may have commissioned it as a gift. The painting exemplifies detailed portrait artistry characteristic of its era.