Lais of Corinth (Holbein)

Lais of Corinth by Hans Holbein the Younger portrays the famous Lais of Corinth, a courtesan of ancient Greece who charged a high price for her favours.[1] It has been suggested that Holbein is also referring to the Lais who was the lover of Apelles, the great painter of antiquity (Holbein was called "Apelles" in humanist circles).[1] The model, the same used for his Venus and Amor, has been identified as either Magdalena Offenburg or her daughter Dorothea, as it was noted by Basilius Amerbach in the archives from the Amerbach-Cabinet, that the woman depicted was someone of the Offenburg family.[1] Dorothea would have been eighteen years of age in 1526.[2] It was assumed that either of the two may have been Holbein's mistress.[2][1] Both paintings, the Venus as the Lais, came into the possession of the Amerbach Cabinet in the late 1500s.[1]

Venus and Amor, 1524
Lais of Corinth, Limewood, 34.6 × 26.8 cm, Kunstmuseum Basel

References
  1. Müller, Christian (2006). Hans Holbein the Younger: The Basel Years, 1515-1532. Prestel. p. 356. ISBN 978-3-7913-3580-3.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  2. Stein, Wilhelm (1920). Holbein der Jüngere. Berlin: Julius Bard Verlag. p. 100.

Further reading
  • Buck, 44–43
  • Derek Wilson, Hans Holbein: Portrait of an Unknown Man, London: Pimlico, 2006, ISBN 1-84413-918-2, pp. 112–13
  • Buck, Stephanie. Hans Holbein. Cologne: Könemann, 1999, ISBN 3-8290-2583-1.
  • Toman, Rolf (ed). Renaissance: Art and Architecture in Europe during the 15th and 16th Centuries. Bath: Parragon, 2009. ISBN 1-4075-5238-4
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