Who painted "The Ambassador" and when?

Question

I believe it's an oil painting, and it's not very famous because I can't seem to find out anything about it. Anyone who answers my question, please tell me the source of your answer! I would appreciate it!

Answer 1

There is a very famous painting called The Ambassadors by Hans Holbien. It is housed in the National Gallery in London and is a very famous work.

Full title: Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve ('The Ambassadors')

1533

HOLBEIN the Younger, Hans
1497/8 - 1543

NG1314. Bought with contributions from Charles Cotes, Lord Iveagh and Lord Rothschild, 1890.

This picture memorialises two wealthy, educated and powerful young men. At the left is Jean de Dinteville, aged 29, French ambassador to England in 1533. To the right stands his friend, Georges de Selve, aged 25, Bishop of Lavaur, who acted on several occasions as ambassador to the Emperor, the Venetian Republic and the Holy See.

The picture is in a tradition showing learned men with books and instruments. The objects on the upper shelf include a celestial globe, a portable sundial and various other instruments used for understanding the heavens and measuring time. Among the objects on the lower shelf is a lute, a case of flutes, a hymn book, a book of arithmetic and a terrestrial globe. Certain details could be interpreted as references to contemporary religious divisions. The broken lute string, for example, may signify religious discord, while the Lutheran hymn book may be a plea for Christian harmony.

In the foreground is the distorted image of a skull, a symbol of mortality. When seen from a point to the right of the picture the distortion is corrected.

Oil on oak
207 x 209.5 cm.

Answer 2

Hans Holbein?
1533

Im not sure if this is the one your after...