The Ambassadors' Secret: Holbein and the World of the Renaissance

Author / Editor
North, John.

Title
The Ambassadors' Secret: Holbein and the World of the Renaissance

Published
New York: Hambledon and London, 2002.

Physical Description
xix, 346 pp. 11 color plates; 81 b&w illus.

Description
Examines the "highly contrived" allegory of Hans Holbein's painting, "The Ambassadors" (1533), assessing its religious theme as conveyed through evocations of "astronomy and geometry, optics and various occult arts." Also argues that the painting alludes to astronomical details related to Good Friday that are included in Chaucer's ParsP, details that may have been conveyed to Holbein by way of Francis Thynne.

Chaucer Subjects
Parson and His Tale