HOLBEIN SYNDROME
GALERIA FRANCISCO FINO01.2025 LISBON
It is not uncommon in Art History to find artistic decisions that immortalize the gesture of the creator, often transcending the original context of the work. In 1533, Hans Holbein (1497/8-1543) completed the famous painting The Ambassadors, a work that still intrigues its audience today. Holbein subverts the classical rules of painting by introducing, into a composition that exalts knowledge and science in a sober and academic universe, an unusual symbol that disturbs it. The vanitas, occupying a large area of the lower part of the canvas, evokes the ephemerality of life and the inevitability of death, and instigates a premonition—a reminder of the transience of reality, even for those who master earthly knowledge, as is the case with the portrayed subjects.  

Text and Curation by Francisca Portugal

“Treatise” (II, I, III) (from left to right) 
Iron and inox. 
Dimensions vary. 
2025

“Circe’s Hex” and “Dance of the Nine Opals” 
suspended drawings shown in photos
Graphite on gravure paper, mounted on a stainless steel frame.
50 x 70cm 
2025

Joana Coelhojoanagpcoelho@gmail.com