National Gallery, London

Date

07.03.16

Just visited the National Gallery in London last week and stumbled on “The Ambassadors”, 1553 by Holbein again. All of a sudden my childhood memories came rushing back, we had gone to the museum on a school trip and I had become mesmerized by this large painting. Why on earth would this painting make such an impression on an eight year old? For sure it wasn’t the charming looks of the two chubby fellas hanging out by the table. The clothing and textures were fantastic..I noticed how the floor was different than the fancy carpet draped over the stand. The colors, patterns, and objects were all telling a story. Of course I had no idea what the painting was about, I just kept wondering why would the painter go to all this trouble of creating such a beautiful stage and then stick a huge skull in the foreground. It was Holbein’s skull that first got me thinking “wow art is cool!”I found this great little video about “The Ambassadors”