Changes

'''''The Ambassadors''''' (1533) is a painting by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]] in the National Gallery, [[London]]. The sitters, both Frenchmen, were Jean de Dinteville (on the [[left]]), who was ambassador to England in 1533, and Georges de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, who visited him in London in April or May of that year. As well as [[being ]] a [[double ]] portrait, the painting contains a still [[life ]] of several meticulously rendered [[objects]], the [[meaning ]] of which is the [[cause ]] of much debate.

Although a [[German]]-[[born ]] [[artist ]] whose career was based mainly in England, [[Holbein ]] displayed the influence of contemporary Dutch painters in this [[work]]. This influence can be noted most outwardly in the use of oil paint, a [[recent ]] invention whose [[technique ]] was first taken advantage of by Flemish masters. What is most "Flemish" of Holbein's use of oils is his use of the medium to render meticulous details that are mainly [[symbolic]]: as Van Eyck and the [[Master ]] of Flemalle used extensive imagery to link their [[subjects ]] to divinity, Holbein used [[symbols ]] to link his [[figures ]] to the age of exploration.

Among the clues to the figures' explorative [[associations ]] are two globes, a sextant, an astrolabe, and the various textiles, the rug on the floor and cloth on the upper shelf being the most notably oriental. The [[choice ]] for the inclusion of the two figures can furthermore be seen as symbolic. The [[figure ]] on the left is in secular attire while the figure on the [[right ]] is dressed in protestant [[religious ]] garb. They are flanking the table, which displays open books, symbols of religious [[knowledge ]] and even a symbolic link to the Virgin, is therefore believed to be symbolic of a unification of [[capitalism ]] and the [[Church]].

The most notable and famous of Holbein's symbols in the work, however, is the skewed [[human skull|skull]] which is placed in the bottom center of the composition. The skull, rendered in [[anamorphic projection|anamorphic perspective]], [[another ]] invention of the Early [[Renaissance]], is meant to be nearly subliminal as the viewer must approach the painting nearly from the side of the painting to see the [[form ]] morph into a completely accurate rendering of a [[human ]] skull. While the skull is evidently intended as a ''[[vanitas]]'' or ''[[memento mori]]'', it is unclear why Holbein gave it such prominence in this painting. One possibility is that this painting represents [[three ]] levels: the heavens (as portrayed by the astrolabe and [[other ]] objects on the upper shelf), the [[living ]] [[world ]] (as evidenced by books and a musical [[instrument ]] on the lower shelf), and [[death ]] ([[signified ]] by the skull). It has also been hypothesized that the painting is meant to hang in a stairwell, so that a person [[walking ]] up the stairs from the painting's right would be startled by the [[appearance ]] of the skull.[http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-ana2.htm] From [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/artofanamorphosis/skull.html such an angle], the skull appears in its correct aspect ratio.