Evening star., 1941-08-03

There is a tradition that Sir Brian
uas in part responsible for the trans
plantation of Holbein from Basle
TO London. If so, it must likewise
have been through Erasmus, whose
friendship and confidence he doubt
less shared with More. However,
rumor has it that Holbein stayed
for three years under Mores roof
which probably is an eXaggeration,
sll allowances for generous hospi-
tality being made, but certainly
Tuke was of More's circle, and the
chances are that it was he who,
upon Holbein's second arrival,
toward the end of 1884, brought him
to the attention of the King, Henry
VIII, and eventually obtained for
him appointment as one of the
painters to the Crown.
Troublous Times.
These were troublous times in
England and it was not an easy
thing for those who attained to high
position to keep their heads. Sir
Brian Tuke and Holbein were, in
this matter. fortunate; but not so
Sir Thomas More. who was executed
on Tower Hill July 6, 1885. because
his conscience would not allow him
TO denounce the Pope and so legalize
the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne
Boleyn. But years before, Erasmus,
1t will be remembered, 'a-horse-
back" on his way to England, wrote
his famous essay, "Encomium Mo-
riae" C"Praise of Folly'D, which was
both panegyric upon foolishness
and also an encomium of More him.
self, whose goodness took on at
times the aspect of utmost folly
aptly described as the divine fool
ishness of Cod; gay little book
which was actually finished under
Sir Thomas More's hoSpitable roof
and later proved prophetic. -Four
years later More published his
utopia" likewise written in Latin,
'for the eyes of cultivated Europe,
and for people who can take joke"
More's so-called circle must have
been made up of those well worth
meeting and Erasmus must have
thought very well of the young illus
TRAITOR painter to have given him
that letter of introduction which
proved an open sesame thereto.
The portrait of Sir Brian Tuke
shows us a man of grave vlsage but
dignifed mien. wearing a black
gown with fur collar, black doublet
with black and gold checkered
sleeves and a soft black cap. Around
his neck is hung heavy gold chain
with a gold cross bearing symbols
of the Passion. With the forefinger
of his left hand, which holds his
gloves, he points to paper in front
of him on which is inscribed IN
Latin the goth verse of the 10th
chapter of JOB: Are not my days
few? cease then and let me alone.
that I may take comfort a little
On the background. which has
somewhat faded. are inscribed his
name. his age and his motto, "Drolt
ct Avant." In other versions OF this
portrait a skull is pictured to the
sitter's right-but happily not here.
Tuke, like More. was a scholar and
high in court circles-secretary to
Cardinal Wolsey French secretary
to Henry VIII and treasurer Of the
household. No wonder he was able
to advance Holbein's cause.
Returns to London.
The portrait by this painter in
the National Gallery belongs to his
later period. In 1923 he was obliged
to go back to Basle to retain his
citizenship rights. and. in all prob
ability, it was his intention to re-
main there. for he bought house
overlooking the Rhine and adjacent
to one of the famous publishers for
whom he had previously worked, and
established in the new home his wife
and children. of whom a portrait
by himself still exists. But times
had changed. the Reformation had
turned the world upside down, orders
did not come. so that finally, after
q struggle, he gave up. and in 1881
set out a second time for London.
Then it was that through More
he gained the patronage of the Ger
man merchants of the Steelyard on
whose order he designed for their
guildhall two impressive mural COM
positions, Triumph of Poverty"
and Triumph of Riches the
sketches for which are COR were) in
the Louvre in Paris, the originals
unfortunately destroyed. At this
same time he did number of sep
arate portraits of members of the
Steelyard Guild, among them that
Of Georg Gysze, now in Berlin, one
of his most famous works.
In 1885 he had many English
sitters and tradition has it that he
occupied house on London Bridge.
The following year (that of the
downfall Of Anne Boleyn, for whose
coronation he had designed a tri-
umphal arch) Holbein painted a
portrait of Jane Seymour, but it
was not long before he was dis
patched by the King, to Belgium,
to paint Christina of Denmark,
whom he was contemplating taking
as wife, and then again to Europe to
paint ard bring back for inspection
a portrait of Anne of Cleves. Be-
tween these two journeys he visited
Basle for the last time.