Varnish & Virtue

Peter Marshall | Literary Review | 3rd December 2025

Holbein was quite an operator. Introduced by Erasmus to Thomas More, he gravitated to Thomas Cromwell and later the royal court. A new biography calls him a “relentless pragmatist”, a workaholic, who ditched family and patrons when it suited and who churned out portraits “on an industrial scale”. But here’s the thing. Holbein painted the iconic portrait of Henry VIII that projected regal vitality and temperament but also showed a man who was “puffy, phallic and cruel”. Holbein’s head stayed on his shoulders.