PREFACE
It may appear a large demand upon the patience of the reader to devote an entire volume to subjects connected with one picture. So varied and fascinating, however, is the field of study opened up by Holbein’s “Ambassadors,” that what was originally intended to occupy but a few pages has developed to the present dimensions.
The value of a work of art, as such, must necessarily depend on purely æsthetic considerations. But it often happens that other and hardly less attractive points of view converge with the artistic aspect. The unique position occupied by the “Ambassadors” as an example of French cultivation in the early half of the sixteenth century is a case in point. Probably no other painting illustrates in the same measure the private life and pursuits of an educated Frenchman of the period, as well as certain remarkable points relating to public events.
The documents which at last re-established the identity of Holbein’s sitters will be found printed in extenso in Part I. of this volume, two of them for the first time; while all the facts bearing upon the history of the picture have been gathered together into a continuous narrative. A large part of the information given throughout the following pages is based upon hitherto unpublished manuscripts, and a variety of new circumstances has been brought to light respecting both the picture and the personages portrayed. Where letters or quotations are inserted in the original French, the old orthography has been strictly preserved, with the sole exception that the letter u, when it stands for a consonant, has been replaced by the more familiar v. In all cases where the old French seemed likely to present any difficulty to the modern reader, translations have been appended.
The fact that Holbein copied the floor of opus Alexandrinum depicted in the “Ambassadors,” from the grand old mosaic pavement of Abbot Ware in Westminster Abbey, may come as a surprise to the reader, and will, it is hoped, be as great a pleasure to him to learn as it was to the writer to discover.
The short notice in the Appendix respecting George Gyze or Gisze, showing the position held by him in the corporation of German merchants in London, now made clear for the first time, may also, it is believed, offer a point of interest to those acquainted with the fine portrait of him, by Holbein, in the Gallery at Berlin.
It remains for the writer to express her gratitude to all those who have assisted the researches of which the following pages are the result. Special thanks are due to Lady Radnor, for information kindly communicated respecting the history of the picture while at Longford Castle; to Mrs. Graham Harrison, for translations from the Latin letters of Pierre Bunel; to M. Dorlodot des Essarts, Marquis de Selve, for permission to reproduce the portrait of the Bishop of Lavaur preserved at Villiers, and for the use of a valuable unpublished Papal rescript which has formed part of the family archives since the sixteenth century; to Lord Francis Hervey, for the translation of Alciati’s Latin verses to accompany the emblem “Fœdera Italorum”; to the Astronomer Royal, for an opinion respecting the celestial globe painted by Holbein; to the late Mr. C. H. Coote, of the British Museum; to Mr. W. H. Rylands, G.A.D.C.; to M. Massif, Keeper of the Public Library at Toulouse; M. Auguste Vidal, Archivist at Albi (Tarn); the Abbé Cazès, Superior of the Seminary at Lavaur; M. Lefèvre-Pontalis, editor of the “Correspondance Politique d’Odet de Selve,” in the series of State Papers published by the French Foreign Office; M. Tausserat-Radel, editor of the “Correspondance de Guillaume Pellicier, Evêque de Montpellier,” in the same series; M. Dardenne, Trésorier-Général of the Department of Aude; Dr. Charles Fournel, author of the history of the Hospice Beaujon at Paris; M. F. Abrand, Régisseur at Polisy; to Mr. Morelli, for permission to use the photographs taken by him from the picture of the “Ambassadors”; to Messrs. Henry Stevens, Son and Stiles, for leave to reproduce the gores of the globe copied by Holbein; and to many others who have cordially done what lay in their power to promote the objects of this study.
The writer is also indebted to the keepers of various departmental and municipal collections of archives in France; to several Paris notaries who have kindly examined for her the ancient legal documents in their possession; and to M. Léon Pajot, for researches conducted amongst the MSS. preserved at Paris.