Why it matters
Two French envoys stand beside a table crowded with instruments for measuring time and the heavens, and a strangely stretched shape across the floor that only turns into a skull when seen from the side. It is one of the best-known examples of anamorphosis in painting.
Did you know?
- It was painted in 1533, the year Elizabeth I was born.
- A lute with a broken string, a symbol of discord, lies next to a hymn book by Martin Luther.
- A small crucifix is half hidden behind the curtain at the top left.
- The National Gallery bought it in 1890.
Based on the Wikipedia article The Ambassadors (Holbein) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
