“The Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein the Younger (1533), along with details of the celestia
“The Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein the Younger (1533), along with details of the celestial globe.The most notable and famous of Holbein’s symbols in the work, however, is the distorted skull which is placed in the bottom center of the composition. The skull, rendered in anamorphic perspective, another invention of the Early Renaissance, is meant to be a visual puzzle as the viewer must approach the painting nearly from the side to see the form morph into an accurate rendering of a human skull. While the skull is evidently intended as a vanitas or memento mori, it is unclear why Holbein gave it such prominence in this painting. In order to see the skull clearly, turn your computer monitor so that you are viewing the picture from the side. -- source link
#art#painting#hans holbein#optical illusion