Portrait of Johann von Schwarzwaldt

This portrait of Johann von Schwarzwaldt by Holbein, dated 1543, is among the artist's very last works before his death that year, probably of plague, in London. The portrait demonstrates Holbein's undiminished mastery and precision in his final months of activity. That this portrait survives in the Pushkin Museum testifies to the international appetite for Holbein's work, which spread across Europe through diplomatic exchange and early art collecting.

The characteristic blue background and precise rendering of facial features and costume demonstrate Holbein's late style, with the inscription providing exact documentary information about the sitter.