1997 is the 500th anniversary of the birth of Hans Holbein the Younger - whose images of the Tudor Court, especially his full-length portraits of Henry VIII, have become virtually part of our national consciousness.
When Holbein first visited England, at the age of 29, he was already a leading painter and engraver in the Swiss city of Basel, which was rapidly becoming a centre for the Reformation.
Before he came, England's tradition of painting was meagre to say the least, and isolated from the main pictorial traditions of Europe. Into this unpromising situation, Holbein brought with him first-hand knowledge of Renaissance artists such as Leonardo and Raphael.
