The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein has long been a source of fascination, and not least because of the strange object that appears to float between his portraits of Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve. When viewed from an acute angle, this indistinct shape resolves into a perfectly proportioned human skull. Why might Holbein have included this macabre detail? Skulls are a reminder, or momento mori, that life is short and wealth can be fleeting.
To create his optical illusion, Holbein used a highly curved mirror and a great deal of patience. The technique is known as anamorphosis and its aim is to defy the senses and encourage new ways of looking.
In the Renaissance, artists often argued over which art form was the greatest, painting or sculpture. In Italy the debate was known as il paragone (the comparison) and Leonardo da Vinci famously proclaimed the superiority of painting, though his rival Michelangelo begged to differ. Holbein’s skull reminds us of one of the advantages that painters have traditionally enjoyed: their ability to depict the seemingly impossible.
Today, however, Holbein’s skull can be ‘brought to life’ as a 3D printed-sculpture, reigniting the age-old paragone debate by making the ‘impossible’ physical. Science, technology and art were largely inseparable in Holbein’s lifetime and it is fitting that modern technology can help us once again to look in new and unexpected ways.
Peter Crack, Ph.D