of his magnum opus in 1601. In Holland GROTIUS, who had
served his scholarly apprenticeship on the study of classi-
cal history texts, was appointed official historiographer of
the United Provinces in 1603 and declared he would de-
vote himself henceforth to the annals of his own country.
By reference to the Batavi, an ancient Germanic people
who lived near the mouth of the Rhine and who revolted
against imperial Rome, Grotius justified the Netherlands’
revolt against Spain in his De antiquitate reipublicae
Bataviae (1610). HOOFT’s later Nederlandsche Historiën,
modeled on Tacitus, also covers this struggle, and is con-
sidered a classic of Dutch prose.
The use of history, particularly near-contemporary
history, as a justification or model for political action had
its dangers for historians when the authorities suspected a
subversive motive; as Sir Walter RALEIGH observed,
“Whosoever, in writing a modern history, shall follow
truth too near the heels, it may happily [by chance] strike
out his teeth” (History of the World, 1614).
See also: ANTIQUARIANISM
Further reading: Eric W. Cochrane, Historians and
Historiography in the Italian Renaissance (Chicago, Ill. and
London: University of Chicago Press, 1981); Arthur B.
Ferguson, Clio Unbound: Perception of the Social and Cul-
tural Past in Renaissance England (Durham, N.C.: Duke
University Press, 1979); E. B. Fryde, Humanism and Re-
naissance Historiography (London: Hambledon, 1983);
Joseph M. Levine, The Autonomy of History: Truth and
Method from Erasmus to Gibbon (Chicago, Ill.: University
of Chicago Press, 1999); Donald J. Wilcox, The Develop-
ment of Florentine Humanist Historiography in the Fifteenth
Century (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1969).
Hoby, Sir Thomas (1530–1566) English diplomat and
translator
Born in Leominster, Hoby went to Cambridge before un-
dertaking extensive travels on the Continent. An expert
linguist, he was knighted and sent as ambassadorto France
in 1566, but died in Paris a few months later. His fame
rests on his elegant translation of CASTIGLIONE’s Il cor-
tegiano (THE COURTIER), which appeared in 1561 and in
four later editions before 1603. Hoby’s wife Elizabeth
(1528–1609) was also a skilled linguist.
Hoefnagel, Georg (Joris Hoefnagel) (1542–1600)
Flemish painter
The son of an Antwerp diamond dealer, Hoefnagel trav-
eled extensively, visiting Spain and France (1561–67),
England (1569), and Italy (1577), before entering the ser-
vice of first the FUGGER FAMILYand eventually RUDOLF II
(from 1591). His travels, often accompanied by his friend
the geographer ORTELIUS, resulted in his numerous depic-
tions of towns in Frans Hogenberg’s great topographical
work Civitates orbis terrarum (1572–1618). In Prague he
made exquisite drawings of natural history subjects and
also created his masterpiece, the emblematic illustrations
to a primer on calligraphy by a Hungarian, George Boc-
skay, written 20 years previously for Emperor Maximilian
II. This primer, now in the possession of the J. Paul Getty
Museum, has been published in facsimile form as Mira
Calligraphiae Monumenta: A Sixteenth-Century Calligraphic
Manuscript (J. Paul Getty Museum, 1992). Hoefnagel’s son
Jakob (1575–c. 1630) followed him as a miniature painter
in the imperial service.Holbein, Hans, the Elder (c. 1465–1524) German
painter and draftsman
A native of Augsburg, Holbein worked there between
1494 and 1517, mainly producing altarpieces and other
religious subjects in the late Gothic style for ecclesiastical
patrons. His early work reveals the influence of contem-
porary Netherlands painters, but works of his last period,
such as the Well of Life (1519; Lisbon), show incipient
awareness of Italian Renaissance motifs. Like his more fa-
mous son of the same name, the elder Holbein was an ac-
complished portraitist. He died at Isenheim.Holbein, Hans, the Younger (1497/8–1543) German
painter
Born in Augsburg, the son of Hans HOLBEIN THE ELDER
(c. 1465–1524), he began by training in his father’s Augs-
burg studio. By 1515 he was working for a painter in Basle
with his brother. He also executed designs for the human-
ist publisher Johann FROBEN, through whom he met ERAS-
MUSin about 1516. The drawings he did for the paintings
of Burgomaster Meyer and his wife (1516; Basle) were
probably more mature than the paintings themselves.
After visiting Lucerne and probably Italy (1517–19), Hol-
bein returned to Basle, where he was commissioned to
paint the council chamber. Disturbances connected with
the Reformation, however, interrupted this work, which
was not finally completed until 1530; other paintings from
this period include Bonifacius Amerbach (1519; Basle)
Christ in the Tomb (1521; Basle), and Madonna and Child
with Saints (1522; Solothurn). Holbein also designed the
Dance of Death (1523/24) and the Alphabet of Death
(1524) series of woodcuts, illustrated the Luther Bible
(1522), and painted three portraits of Erasmus (1523),
which established his international reputation.
In 1526, possibly because of continuing religious un-
rest, Holbein moved to London and met Sir Thomas MORE,
whose family he painted in the first group portrait of full-
length figures in their domestic setting in European art
(the painting now exists only in sketches and copies).
After 18 months he returned to Basle, there executing de-
signs for stained glass and a portrait of his own family
whom he painted with an honesty he curbed with influ-
ential sitters. Then religious strife again prompted him to
seek his fortunes (c. 1532) in England. As More was now22440 0 HHoobbyy,, SSiirr TThhoommaass