October 24th 2010
Humanities

'The Ambassadors' and their trading

'The Ambassadors' by Hans Holbein the Younger

This painting is called ‘The Ambassadors’, it was painted by a German artist and printmaker called Hans Holbein the younger. The painting is oil on oak, and it was painted at 1533. This painting is currently located at the National Gallery at London. The painting itself contains a still life, thus it is a painting that depicts natural and man-made objects that were common at the time. Since the painting contains a still life, it is reasonable to assume that the painting is also based on what actually happen at the time it was made. Based on the year the painting was made, the type of objects and the features of the two people in the painting, this painting is based on the fact that there was a lot of trading going on in the Renaissance. Since the painting was painted in 1533, you can easily deduce that the painting was made in the Renaissance, and it is a fact that there was more trading going on in the Renaissance then there was in the Middle Ages. Another interesting thing you’ll notice about this painting is that the features of the two people in the painting are different in terms of hair color, skin tone, clothing, and accessories. The difference in how these two people look, suggests that these two people are from a different origin. I would guess that the man on the left is from a considerably colder country than the man on the right, because it is obvious that the clothing of the man on the left is thicker than the clothing of the man on the right. The real essence of trading is that you are able to receive items which cannot be obtained in the land. For example trading something which is common (like fish), and trading it for rare spices from the Far East, this is sort of trading which is effective. The people of the Renaissance knew this too, the fact that two people from different countries are meeting relates to the fact that trading is effective when it is done with people from a different country. By the looks of the various types of objects that are ‘displayed’ behind the two men shows, that the trading that took place in the Renaissance, were mostly based on items which has a scientific purpose or a creative idea (it is also interesting to see that there is no food items on ‘display’, this emphasizes my point that the people in the renaissance were particularly interested in trading for items with a scientific purpose or a creative idea, such as the globe and the musical instruments). The painting ‘The Ambassadors’, by Hans Holbein the younger, reflects the trading of scientific items and creative items in the Renaissance.