Immensely skillful and inventive, Hans Holbein moulded his approach to artmaking during a period of dramatic transformation in European society and culture: the emergence of humanism, the impact of the Reformation on religious life and the effects of new scientific discoveries. Most people have encountered Holbein's work – Henry VIII was forever defined for posterity by his memorable portrait – but little is widely known about the artist himself.

This overview of Holbein looks at his art through the changes in the world around him. Offering insightful and often surprising new interpretations of visual and historical sources that have rarely been addressed, Jeanne Nuechterlein reconstructs what we know of the life of this elusive figure, illuminating the complexity of hisworld and the images he generated.