Wrocław – National Museum in Wrocław (St Paul the Apostle by Ambrosius Holbein)

Located in the National Museum in Wrocław, this painting is by Ambrosius Holbein (1494-1519), the brother of Hans Holbein the Younger of Tudor painting fame. The text at the top relates to Paul’s letters to the Corinthians in the New Testament and talks about God not needing the understanding of humans, as frankly, they don’t know as much as he does. I can think of a President who has a similar mindset, but I’d better divert into politics for too long. Anyway, given that this Holbein died young at the age of around 25, there aren’t a large number of artworks still surviving although the Kunstmuseum in Basel has several. This is also where he likely died (the city, not the specific art museum) and Basel is also where his brother worked for several years. The museum has this dated as 1522, but they note that Holbein died in 1521 (no-one is entirely sure when he died), so something might be slightly off here or it was just finished off by someone in his workshop.

The background blue colour is in other paintings by members of the Holbein family and it’s apparently called Azurite, a form of copper which was mined in the Saxony area at the time. I don’t have any art knowledge to add much here, but it’s a vibrant and bold painting but there’s no information provided at the gallery or on their web-site as to the provenance and where it has been located for hundreds of years. And it’s a reminder that I should look at going to Basel as I’ve just noticed that Wizz Air fly there.