The Secret Behind Holbein's Ambassadors

I just finished reading Hagi Kenaan's article "The Unusual Character of Holbein's Ambassadors", and I must say, it was quite interesting. In the article, Kenaan seeks to analyze, in a more in depth manner, Hans Holbein's portrait "The Ambassadors" (1533). According to Kenaan, this portrait contains a secret which is only discovered through the "embrace of the visuality of the painting rather than by attempting to transcend it." Kenaan asserts that the various questions that emerge from looking at the painting increases even more as one tries to relate the objects to the overall composition of the painting. Hagi takes on a more philosophical approach when analyzing Holbein's portrait. One important aspect of the painting, according to Kenaan, is its lack of an actual literal understanding or meaning, which as he puts it, has become one of the painting's trademarks. Secondly, the painting itself possesses a very "intriguing and fascinating appearance" that seems to evoke all sorts of questions to its viewers.

Hagi Kenaan goes on to emphasize a few of the painting's many striking characteristics, the first one being its anamorphic composition, which greatly highlights the use of this technique in the sixteenth century. Another important characteristic of the portrait is Holbein's use of the drapery in the background. Kenaan's theory on the drapery is that, not only is it meant to draw attention, but it is also "what divides the original space of the ambassadors into the visible and the invisible." According to Kenaan, the curtains suggest the presence of a depth beyond itself. Through the use of anamorphosis, Kenaan asserts that, not only does the portrait declare the existence of a secret, but also a sort of instructional manual on how to decipher the secret itself. Furthermore, the use of double portraiture intensifies the viewers' curiosity by failing to clarify the relationship between the two men at first glance. Kenaan uses the marriage portrait in order to figure out the true nature of the relationship between the two men in the painting. He focuses on distinct characteristics that are, most of the time, different, such as gestures and body language.

Without a doubt, Holbein's painting has been beautifully executed in my opinion. I greatly believe this is due in part to the inclusion of meticulously rendered objects in the background, such as the globe and the skewed skull. These objects appear to be separate entities within themselves, very much like still lifes. These still lifes seem to add an air of mystery to the overall composition of the painting, which begs the question: what is the secret?