These lectures by the National Gallery are absolute gems. What a wonderful resource we have access to.

@liamog803

2 жыл бұрын

Typical bias views of art to suit your BREXIT phobias

@weehudyy

2 жыл бұрын

@@liamog803 Do you ever get tired of forcing your own limited world view on to everything ?

@markedmundhutcheson8139

Жыл бұрын

Hear! Hear!

@user-yd6ef1yo9d

7 ай бұрын

The most obvious feasture of the painting --which goes unremarked here--is the extraordinary inflation of the King's actual physique. Holbein wisely chose to please the King and ensure that his own physique is not abruptly shortened by order of the King.

This lady (Susan Foister?) is such a good speaker and her English is so correct and the pronunciation is clear and perfect. Her lecture is good not only for those who are interested in Art, but also for those who are improving English language skills.

@lucast3006

3 жыл бұрын

I agree completely. I find it interesting that you capitalize Art; you must have a lot of reverence for it.

@brendonmcmorrow3886

2 жыл бұрын

She is extremely knowledgeable and a highly effective communicator. Her books are certainly worth a look.

@MrRufusRToyota

2 жыл бұрын

She’s English. She speaks English. I’m American. I speak American.

@swimminginhoney

2 жыл бұрын

@@MrRufusRToyota Haha I'm sorry to say that Americans still speak English. It is the same language.

@MrRufusRToyota

2 жыл бұрын

@@swimminginhoney And Jamaicans?

One detail the lecturer didn't mention, the floor is in fact a representation of the cosmati/mosaic stone at the high alter in Westminster Abbey, which is where monarchs are crowned. This could be a face-value reference to the coronation of Anne Boleyn which is why the Ambassadors were in England at the time, or another reference to time and the heavens, as the mosaic is a complicated representation of the cosmos.

You can see why she's the director of public engagement. Great talk

@seltonk5136

4 жыл бұрын

Rich Mitch don’t like her ghetto accent dudes in the painting look foolish

@stephenp1461

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah she is a great speaker

In todays 24 hours I know 38 minutes and 23 seconds were spent valuably. Thank you I will now make the single bus journey from my home to stand in awe before this wonderful piece of art.

@KayEl58

2 ай бұрын

It took me by surprise when I saw it in the early 1980's. I stood staring at it for about twenty minutes before my companion dragged me away!

These people are basically giving full lectures aboute a masterpiece in 40 minutes. Amazing truly

@mattakubodimasen10

4 жыл бұрын

@@seltonk5136 the thing you do with your butt? I'm more of a one quick hit person if I can judge myself. I think I used to do longer ones when I was in kindergarten, but once you go to school you really have to learn to control them amiright?

@kimclarke5018

3 жыл бұрын

Selton K you are a heathen and need to stop commenting because it is obvious you have little education. Troll.

I love Dr. Foister's presentations. She has a passion for Holbein and the history of the time. A great storyteller and art historian.

I was startled by this painting when I first saw it! I am pretty much house bound now so these excellent NG talks are a godsend.

@nationalgallery

8 ай бұрын

We're pleased to hear you're enjoying our talks, thank you for watching.

A tour de force presentation of a tour de force painting! Clarity and conciseness with erudition. Not a pause or stumble to be heard. Bravo! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This was my favourite painting in the whole National Gallery. I am glad I found this.

I saw this painting in 2006. One of the main reasons I went back to the gallery at least two more times before going back home.

This is my first 'trip' to the NG since 1984!. I must say that though I'd much prefer being there in person, it is a thrilling compensation to be able to observe details in close-up that wouldn't be possible otherwise. A wonderful visit in this time of pandemic.

Fantastic presentation, so accurate and informative as well as inspiring. Thank you so much.

Thank you for sharing your fascinating insights into this enigmatic painting.

@nationalgallery

6 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching :)

I esp liked this presentation, the lady is a very good narrator.

@napoleonsdauphin

5 жыл бұрын

Isn't she wonderful?

I’m not a big art person, but I sure do love this painting. I’m obsessed with it.

These National Gallery Talks are fantastic. Please keep making them!

What a beautiful, beautiful work of art. And a talk to match.

I originally was just here to find the Universal S thing but I ended up watching the whole video lol. Amazed how detailed this painting is and the handful of messages it could be trying to express.

Watching this in front of the painting itself in room 2 at the gallery is such a joy

An amazing lecture by a fascinating and erudite individual. Susan Foister is simply magnificent, much like the painting on which she is lecturing. Thank you.

A very comprehensive discourse presented in great detail. I have viewed this picture many times but found much much more to see and understand with Susan Foister's help. Thank you Susan very much.

In this time of confinement, what a wonderful gift to be able to travel to Europe and view these masterpieces up close and travel around with their provenance. Merci!

We are hooked and watching all of these fantastic lectures. Cant wait to get back to the gallery and re visit all these masterpieces. Wonderful information and knowledgeable lecturers.

That is a great history and art lesson. Thank you Lady ☕❤ I can listen hour and hours to her curation

Brilliant presentation by Susan Foster! Excited to see the painting tomorrow! THANK YOU FOR THESE VIDEOS!

I love these talks!

Can't wait to go back to London and the National Gallery to admire all those valuable art collections. Thank you once again Dr. Foister.

I saw this painting at the National Gallery about 25 years ago. It was absolutely amazing!

What a marvellous exposition. I never knew who they were and we are so fortunate to have this masterpiece. Thank you.

@bighoss1031

Жыл бұрын

Very enlightening fascinated with thev inclusion of the skull.

Incredible lecture and having seen this masterpiece I stood in front of for an hour in awe !everyone should see this marvellous presentation . Thank you National Gallery !

What a stunning painting and such a carefully planned one as well. For such an early creation date it really is superior to most other paintings of that time that still looked very medieval and lacking in detail. It is also fascinating how these scientific instruments were so simple compared to our digital ones and still so advanced mathematically and astronomically at the same time.

Time travel exists: for almost 40 minutes, we were transported almost 500 years ago in time. We learnt a little about European mores, culture, art, mathematics, science, religious views - and philosophy. Some 300 years after Holbein painted Ambassadors, another artist - a poet - would challenge our view of the world asking us to 'Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.' I remain humbled by my gaping lacunae of art history knowledge, and I am grateful to Susan. Hinc lucem at pocula sacra.

@seltonk5136

4 жыл бұрын

Burp

@cliffdariff74

4 жыл бұрын

Well as an American, of course I have to ask... Who is that poet you referenced ??

@SignorSprezzatura

Жыл бұрын

@@cliffdariff74 Shelly, Ozymandis

Mrs Susan Foister is exceptional at presenting a deep and curious dissertation of Art. I am off now to search for other presentations from her.

Excellent and enlightening discourse. Thank you so much!

These lectures are superb - they are invaluable learning resources. Although I have visited the gallery many times, having the lectures available online enhances the value I get from looking at the paintings in the gallery itself. Coincidentally, I was asked recently what my ‘favourite’ paintings were. I had a long list, but this was one of them!

More of these lectures please! Loving this from Korea!

Thank you, the gallery talks have given the general public an opening into the art world.

What an amazing, extraordinary painting! Thanks for this great lecture.

Wow she delivers an excellent presentation of a marvelous piece of art. Thank you for publishing it. Very inspiring!

So interesting, my daughter showed me this painting. She is studying Fine Arts at the University of the Free State, this has inspired me to do some research on art history and I love it.

It is a wonderful description on Holbein beautiful paintings.

The tromp l’oeil is outstanding and really interesting

@simongardiner949

3 жыл бұрын

We are only enabled to see this outstanding 'trompe l'oeil' thanks to the major restoration carried out in the 1990s.

Thank you so so much Mrs Foister! I love your presentation: clear, instructive and enthralling!

Astounding, elusive work of art. Thank you, Dr. Foister, for an excellent and informative discourse.

Painted in turbulent times, the painting seems to represent an awareness of a rift between Science and Faith; between the secular world and the religious.

Such wonderful story telling - Susan Foister is a masterpiece her self, fascinating. Thank you

Absolutely fascinating! Such an illuminating lecture. Thank you so much for sharing this.

This woman is marvelous.... no podium, no notes. She knows her art techniques, art history and artists. Damn, can we see the tapestry, the threads look like pixels! I do think the warped skull just doesn’t belong...it’s not hidden. It’s difficult to believe Holbein did not leave written notes about this??

Thank you for this informative video... wonderful lecture, it's as though I were standing in front of The Ambassadors (which I last saw in 2017!) Susah Foister's voice is authoritative and soothing at the same time.

She's a fantastic lecturer

Best thing I've watched in s long, long time! 👍👍👍👍👍

Wonderful lecture ! The subject, the pace, the clarity. Many thanks!

Oh my. This takes me back 40 years. My teacher had this and Guernica on his classroom wall

An excellent lecture that conveys both learning and enthusiasm. Thank you

Absolutely jealous - gorgeous presentation and as usual all citations are immaculate. In love and lust for true ‘gold’ of centuries of beauty and brilliance. Also the presenters are fantastic - it full of joy and light.

Incredible artistry and amazing talk.

Thank you, wonderful presentation.

Excellent presentation and insights. I do appreciate that Susan was not afraid to state the contrast between the certainty of death and the hope of Christians. It is merely reflective of the belief, but commentators are usually ignorant of or afraid to represent it clearly.

It has the exact style of writing an infinity symbol as the S we used to write at school on the red cloth thats on the table

Foister points out that the faces are not the most penetrating of Holbein's portrait work. She also points out that the sitters were not together in England for more than a few months. She seems, also to pass off the objects 'on the shelves' as somewhat eclectic, and not perhaps, pointing to the real idea behind the picture. While the astronomical instruments on the 'top shelf' point the viewer to the heavenly bodies and the arcane world, the objects on the 'bottom shelf', also brilliantly painted, guide the viewer to the achievements of music and mathematics by the human mind in the mundane world below. Before looking at he obscured figure of Our Lord on the Cross, and the cryptic skull at the picture's nadir; I would like to direct you to major painting in which Henry VIII makes a State Visit to Francis I of France "The Field (flag) of the Cloth of Gold". France, not the little broken up pieces of the Holy Roman Empire, is cultural and political centre of Europe. The two portrait subjects are not intellectual or spiritual subjects, they are messengers - Ambassadors. They are representing to the viewer, the position of the Church's teaching on salvation Christ on the Cross), and that of the Calvinists (simplified theology in the form of hymns). Holbein, is here by the means of his Ambassadors, taking the viewer from the instrument of our salvation, down though the arcane world to our spiritual loss in the mundane creation of the Calvanists in one of their hymn books, to the sign of death itself , the skull. This painting is a major work of cultural and historical significance in the life of Europe, and should be taken very seriously.

Absolutely riveting. I so enjoyed this sitting. Thank you.

I watched this for over half an hour before seeing the skull. I immediately gasped! What a unique piece of historical art.

This lady is an excellent narrator, she gave so much details of Art itself and historical background for me to view this piece of Art！ And her english speaking is so elegant and precise, hopefully I can listen from her again！

I wish I was able to obtain one of his paintings. I have commented on another video but I am a descendant of Hans Holbein. This is so amazing ❤️

@TesterAnimal1

Ай бұрын

You and several million others.

Truly enjoyed this one... full of knowledge and information. Great work by the curator and the National Gallery

What an amazingly odd artwork clearly showing division within. Cool hidden meanings.

Masterpiece is overworked these days. What a wonderful presentation of and incredible double portrait.

What a polished public speaker (and presentation)!

Excellent. Thank you for showing this

Very well-spoken, engaging speaker!

Absolutely amazing.

great talk, interesting and informative. Susan Foister is a wonderful and engaging speaker.

Thank you for your videos. For helping see these paintings and drawings, to understand how paint is placed on wood and canvas and could look like that. Marvelous.

Extraordinary, really enjoyed this presentation. Susan Foister truly magnificent.

A wonderful presentation of a great work of Art.

Thank you very much for doing these National Gallery lectures.

This was lovely. Thank you.

I agree with the theory that there was some kind of optical glass that you were meant to look through to observe the skull. Optics were all the rage at the time. Vermeer experimented with cameras and many others probably did the same thing

The National Gallery: GREAT PRESENTATION!

Excelent presentation Susan! Thank you very much!

A very good lecture, very interesting. I’ve always found this painting fascinating, a Pandora’s box of meanings. There are so many juxtapositions in this painting, religion and politics, earth and the ephemeral, science and the arts. I’ve often pondered over the concept of the skull in the foreground as showing us not only our mortality, as addressed so well in this lecture, but maybe also the spiritual, beyond our knowing or knowledge. Who knows. Amazing painting anyway.

The lady is a wonderful narrator and this talk was fascinating.

Wonderful! Thank you, Susan Foister!

Amazing painting. Excellent presentation.

Amazing!💗💗💗

I really wondered about the mystery in this painting. I really couldn't discern what the object was on the ground. Looking at it with your description for a duration of time, I did understand. It is so amazing overall painting is so traditional but the distorted object on the ground looks like it's digitally put there. The painting is really ahead of its time.

Very informative. Amazing explanations and discovering anew about this oeuvre even I’ve read about this on so many art history books. Or maybe I’ve been refreshed again? Awesome art talk! Kudos!

That was absolutely fantastic.

I love art histoty stuff...and I have never been to art school.

Brilliant! Thank you Susan Foster!

Absolutely amazing lecture

Jean de Dinteville's chateau de Polisy was in the Champagne region, not Burgundy. I live in Troyes and I didn't know that he was one of the two characters and came from my region. I'm very proud of it, thank you !

@Bwahzehdezooner

3 жыл бұрын

In Dinteville's day Polisy was indeed in Burgundy. The old limit was just north of Bourguignons, outside of Bar-sur-Seine. The current limits of Champagne were established in the early twentieth century in order for the local vintners to use the appellation "Champagne". Je suis de Mussy-sur-Seine, à coté de la limite moderne.

Amazing information. Great work in sharing it

Wonderful explanation. Thanks so much. 🌹

I would love the National Portrait Gallery do videos like this aswell!

Wonderful. What a fascinating painting. Thoroughly enjoyed the presentation.

Fascinating lecture. Well worth watching.

Very informative and engaging! Thanks!

Without notes. Amazing! I so enjoyed this!