Copyright by Alisa Louise McCusker Carlson 2015 The Dissertation Committee for Alisa Louise McCusker Carlson Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Draftsmanship, Social Networking, and Cultural History: The Portrait Drawings of Hans Holbein the Elder (ca. 1465-1524) Committee: Jeffrey Chipps Smith, Supervisor Peter Hess Joan A. Holladay Andrew Morrall Louis A. Waldman Draftsmanship, Social Networking, and Cultural History: The Portrait Drawings of Hans Holbein the Elder (ca. 1465-1524) by Alisa Louise McCusker Carlson, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2015 Dedication To Mom and Dad and J.J. for so very much Acknowledgements I owe many thanks to several thoughtful and brilliant people, who assisted me in various ways during the researching and writing of this dissertation. Foremost, I am grateful to my advisor, Dr. Jeffrey Chipps Smith, for his continuous encouragement, helpful suggestions, and trustworthy advice. It has truly been a pleasure learning from him and working with him, not only on this project but also on papers and articles throughout my doctoral coursework at the University of Texas at Austin. His support of several grant and fellowship applications along the way made it possible for me to pursue firsthand study of the portrait drawings of Hans Holbein the Elder. I appreciate the time and energy each member of dissertation committee gave to my project. Dr. Peter Hess offered his extensive knowledge of early modern German culture, history, literature, and – not least of all – language. In addition to reminding me of the critical importance of objects as primary sources of history, Dr. Joan A. Holladay shared her zeal and thorough understanding of codicology. Dr. Andrew Morrall’s close familiarity with the distinct milieu of sixteenth-century Augsburg has benefited me greatly in comprehending my subject. Through his careful reading of my text, Dr. Louis A. Waldman led me to consider a broader, cross-cultural perspective on portraiture across early modern Europe. All of my committee members asked probing questions and contributed significantly to our stimulating discussion at my defense, and for that I am thankful. In order to conduct research for this dissertation, a full-year Fulbright Research Grant was paramount. The financial support of the Fulbright-Kommission enabled me to v examine firsthand of all of the drawings attributed to Holbein and his sons, Ambrosius and Hans the Younger, in Berlin, Basel, Chantilly, and Paris. During this year of object research, the staff members of the collections I visited were enormously gracious and helpful. At the Studiensaal of the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, my almost daily visits and requests to see more and more drawings were always met with the utmost professionalism and friendliness. At the end of my research year, Dr. Michael Roth, Curator at the Kupferstichkabinett, kindly met with me to discuss my ideas, shared his expertise on early modern German drawings and the provenances of Holbein’s drawings in Berlin, and allowed me to study a recent acquisition, the so-called “Kleiner Klebeband,” which contains the earliest datable portrait drawing by Holbein. During the several days I spent at the Kupferstichkabinett of the Kunstmuseum Basel, Annika Baer and Christine Schön-Ramseyer, supervisors of the study room, generously gave their time and demonstrated their commitment to conservation by helping me handle Holbein’s fragile drawings. I also appreciate the time Dr. Christian Müller, Curator of the Kupferstichkabinett, was able to speak with me during his busy schedule. I am grateful as well to the study room supervisors who assisted me at the Musée Condé in Chantilly, where I was fortunate to be able to spend a whole day examining Holbein’s only self-portrait drawing. The staff members of the Département des Arts Graphiques at the Musée du Louvre in Paris were helpful and patient with my English- and German-accented French. An important one-day research trip to the Staatsbibliothek Bamberg in June 2014 was made possible with the support of the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas at Austin. I am grateful to Dr. Stefan Knoch and Dr. Anna Scherbaum at the Staatsbibliothek Bamberg for their interest in my work. vi Before my primary research abroad I needed to develop German skills. With a Kress Fellowship for Middlebury Language School during the summer of 2010, I went from being a novice to achieving advanced facility in an astonishingly short time. For that, I appreciate my professors and peers in the immersion program of the Middlebury Deutsche Schule. Several professors and peers have also supported me throughout my time in the doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin. In particular, friendships with my incomparable colleagues, Dr. Jessica Weiss and Dr. Catharine Ingersoll, have been consequential to my successes. I am forever indebted to them for their caring and compassion, ever intelligent company, and constructive criticism. They have been outstanding role models. I have enjoyed learning from them and look forward to our future endeavors together. I am also grateful to Dr. Ann C. Johns for helping me with many questions – both professional and personal. I will never forget that she and her family so warmly welcomed me into their home for Thanksgiving in 2009, and this is a kindness I will pay forward. To Erin Becker, Sarah Cavner, Mary Richardson, Rebecca Risher, and Dr. Mary Vance, your lessons in mindfulness, patience, and self-care enabled me to build confidence and meet my potential. The highest in me bows to the highest in you, namasté. To my parents, LeRoy and Martha McCusker, whose boundless, unconditional love has carried me through everything, this is the first of many projects I hope to dedicate to you. You have taught me what is truly important in life. Your steadfast commitment to family has fostered in me a consummate understanding of compassion, selflessness, and real love. To my whole family (Amy, Doug, Cooper, Carter, Abbey, Jerrod, Morgan, Peyton, Avery, Tyler, Aurora, Nolan, Jeff, Alison, MaryAnn, and vii Lillian), who have followed my parents’ lead, thank you for making my life so rich. To my second family, the Carlsons, it truly means a great deal to me that you are curious about my work and have encouraged me these past four years. I would not have made it to this point without the love, care, optimism, and reassurance of my best friend and partner, J.J. Carlson. Because you have cheered me on, propped me up, and contentedly served as all-around “support staff” during the past five years both at home and abroad, I struggle to find the right words to express my gratitude. By dedicating this to you, I express, however humbly, my thankfulness for you. J.J., you make my life full and give it meaning. viii Draftsmanship, Social Networking, and Cultural History: The Portrait Drawings of Hans Holbein the Elder (ca. 1465-1524) Alisa Louise McCusker Carlson, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2015 Supervisor: Jeffrey Chipps Smith Hans Holbein the Elder (ca. 1465-1524) was a successful and prolific painter and draftsman, who lived and worked mainly in the southern German city of Augsburg. In addition to being master of a workshop that produced large-scale religious works, Holbein produced numerous drawings, of which over two hundred have been preserved from throughout his career. The vast majority of Holbein’s surviving drawings – about one hundred sixty – are portraits or head studies, originally made in silverpoint in small, portable sketchbooks. The quantity and medium of his drawings indicate that taking portraits was a habitual part of Holbein’s practice, if not a preoccupation for him. His portrait drawings depict a range of Augsburg’s populace, including men, women, and children, representing a variety of social classes and professions. On several drawings he even identified his sitters clearly with inscriptions of their names, ages, occupations, or other claims to fame. Collectively, they offer the artist’s perspective on the bustling urban center in which he lived and worked as well as suggest his place within that milieu. This dissertation examines Holbein’s portrait drawings in terms of their material and technical production as well as their potential historical, social, and cultural significance. This ix study describes the characteristics that typify Holbein’s portrait drawings and establishes standards for attributing works to him, his workshop, and others, as well as offers paleographical analysis of his drawings’ inscriptions. Because his portraits present so much textual information that has otherwise been overlooked, questions of who the people of Holbein’s portraits are and what their portrayals reveal about themselves and about the artist can be considered. Applying sociological theories of social capital and networking, this study proposes that Holbein’s portrait drawings survive as important records of his social network and reveal insights into his social experiences and practices. Holbein’s portrait drawings also offer numerous social and cultural cues through his depictions of the clothes and adornments of his sitters. Finally, this project considers Holbein’s legacy in European portraiture, especially as inherited by his