Sertorius and the example of the horses. 28. 1 × 70. 1 cm, pen and ink, kunstmuseum basel. The drawing style and format of this and its accompanying sheet indicate that they relate to holbein's murals for the council chamber of basel town hall. He began the work during the 1520s, painting classical subjects such as this one. After his return from a two-year visit to england (1526–28), he was commissioned to resume the task, but this time to provide murals based on old testament subjects, in keeping with the new reformation doctrines of the authorities. The murals were one of several large-scale projects undertaken by holbein that are now known only from a few fragments and preparatory sketches. They were intended to remind the councillors of the need for wise and godly government. This design portrays quintus sertorius (123 bc–72 bc), a wise statesman and shrewd general who led the lusitanians to victory against the roman empire and was famous for his skill in winning battles against larger forces. He illustrated the principle to his followers by demonstrating that a horse's tail could be picked out hair by hair but not pulled out all at once. The hart under sertorius's outstretched arm alludes to the white hart that supposedly appeared at the battle of sucro, in which sertorius and the lusitanians defeated pompey. References
christian müller; stephan kemperdick; maryan ainsworth; et al, hans holbein the younger: the basel years, 1515–1532, munich: prestel, 2006, isbn 9783791335803, pp. 263–64, 412. Derek wilson, hans holbein: portrait of an unknown man, london: pimlico, 2006, isbn 9781844139187, p. 162. Date: circa 1540.
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