Portrait of Jacob Meyer zum Hansen

Companion piece to portrait of Dorothea Kannengiesser, Meyer's wife. The portrait seems to have had a personal function, as the mayor and his wife are informally, if splendidly, dressed. Meyer's main concern would have been the proud display of his wealth, which had enabled this merchant's son to become the first mayor of Basle who was not from the city's upper class but a representative of the guilds. The coin that Meyer holds out prominently towards the viewer presumably refers first and foremost to his occupation as a moneychanger, and only secondarily to the right of the city of Basle, confirmed in 1516 by the Emperor Maximilian (emperor 1486-1519), to mint gold coins. The numerous gold rings on Mayer's left hand vividly demonstrate his prosperity. With his right index finger he points discreetly at his wife, who is likewise richly arrayed, in her case in pearls and gold chains, and clothes and bonnet that are expensively embroidered and laced with gold thread. Even the architecture - with its glossy columns of red veined marble, richly decorated frieze with classical acanthus leaves, and expensively coffered barrel vaulting borrowed from Italian Renaissance architecture - creates a splendid frame for the figures. Holbein places the self assured man in front of the solid pier, thus underlining his physical dominance vis-a-vis the petite woman, who is seated against a monochrome blue background