Holbein’s Globe

Description

When making this globe, we also studied Holbein’s masterpiece “Ambassadors” painting. We believe it was painted to represent a Magic Square for the Sun, a powerful talisman .

“The order of a unique figure and the harmony of a unique number give rise to all things” Giordano Bruno.

“The Ambassadors” has many numbers depicted on the scientific instruments; however there are also two additional numbers that have been specifically added to this fine painting. Dinteville’s age of 29 is recorded on his dagger’s sheath. A second number is to be found recorded on the book under De Selve’s right arm – to date historians claim that the number on the book is 25 as this corresponds with De Selve’s known birth dates of either 1508 or 1509 which would make him either 24 or 25 in 1533. I believe that this is not correct and that the number that is being recorded on the book is actually 23. The confusion arises because the top half of the second number is hidden by shadow. However if one studies how Holbein has painted the date 1533 (bottom left hand corner), here one can clearly see that the bottom halves of his 5’s and 3’s are distinctly different; consequently the books second digit is clearly intended to be a 3 as opposed to a 5. There is a plausible reason as to why these numbers have been specifically included in “The Ambassadors”. ‘Magic Squares’ were undergoing a revival in the Renaissance; their origins are traceable to China 2000 BC. Cornelius Agrippa asserts that magic squares, when made correctly, can invoke great power. He also shows how, by selecting certain numbers power is also invoked. Not surprisingly, if any magic square is to be depicted in “The Ambassadors” then the one which shines forth is the square for the Sun.

This is a square of 36 numbers (1-36), arranged six by six, so that each vertical line and horizontal line add up to 111, then the total of all the vertical lines or all the horizontal is consequently 666. The positioning of 29 and 23 in Agrippa’s square are in a similar position to their the dagger (29) and the book (23) in the painting. If this is the case then what could be 23 be referring to? Could it be possible that it is referring to Agrippa’s ‘Occult Philosophy’ which was in circulation, in manuscript form from 1510 onwards, 1510 plus 23 years makes 1533. If this is correct then the referral to age on the book is referring to the book itself!

If this is the reason for the insertion of these specific numbers, then by looking at Agrippa’s square and studying his work one can see further numbers which appear to have some possible connection with positioning of items in the ‘Ambassadors’: At the bottom left hand corner of Agrippa’s square is the number 36. Holbein not only signs the painting in the left corner of the painting but also depicts the date 1533, which (if Holbein was born in 1497) would make him in 1533 to be 36 years of age. (Holbein was thought to have been born either in 1497 or 1498. If the above reasoning is correct then this would confirm that Holbein was born in 1497 and not 1498).

To the right of number 23 in Agrippa’s square we find the number 24 which could be referring to De Selve’s age ( De Selve is thought to have been born in either 1508 or 1509); if he was born in 1509 he would have been 24 in 1533.

By studying Agrippa’s ‘Occult Philosophy’, other numbers of the square reveal reasoning to the positioning of images in the painting.

Number 6 (top left hand corner of the magic square) is where the crucifix is to be found in “The Ambassadors”. Agrippa clearly attributes number 6 to the suffering endured by Christ when crucified. Agrippa also attributes number 6 with the cross itself. It is interesting to note that Kabbalists also associate the word ‘nail’ with number 6.

Number 32 (to the right of number 6 in the Sun’s Magic Square) is attributed by Agrippa to wisdom, presumably because the Kabbalah links the number 32 with wisdom – where the brain in the hollow of the skull, has an outlet towards microprosopus and on that account the brain extended, and goeth forth by thirty and two path (via the sockets for the teeth)’. There is a skull brooch depicted on Dinteville’s hat.

Number 3 (to the right of number 32 in Agrippa’s square) Agrippa attributes number three to the three augmentations which are the dimensions of space: length; breadth and height, Agrippa comments that with these three there is no progression of dimension, there can be no better symbol of this than the curtain.

Number 8, which in Agrippa’s square is to be found above number 23, can possibly also be found above the number 23 in ‘The Ambassadors’- as the torquetum’s plumb line does not appear to be falling at 0 degrees because the table upon which it stands is not level. The plumb line here appears to be aligning with 8 degrees (it should be noted that the plumb line is painted on the join of two oak panels, much paint has been lost and it might be hard to conclusively prove that this area is as Holbein once painted it).

Number 35, which in Agrippa’s square is to be found above number 8, can also be possibly found above the 8th degree in the ‘Ambassadors’ as the Torquetum appears to be set on the 35 degree.

Number 27 can possibly be found with the celestial globe, not only is the pointer at 2.7 on the dias, but Pythagoreans associated number 27 with the universe (which a celestial globe represents). The reasoning behind this is because a tetractys formed from the multiplication of odd and even numbers united in unity, produced a sum of 27 (1+2+3+4+8+9=27), when combined with the tetractys of addition (1+2+3+4=10), symbolised the musical, geometric and arithmetic ratios (all to be found below on the first shelve) upon which the universe is made.

It is interesting that number 10 is possibly to be found vertically below number 27 as the arithmetic book is opened on a page which has been copied from an existing arithmetic book with faultless precision, Agrippa states that 10 is every number and beyond 10 every number is replication, there is perhaps no better symbol for this than the arithmetic book, however it is possible that Holbein has deliberately omitted two cancellation strokes on the numbers 1 and 9 which when combined = 10).

Other numbers are also possibly in evidence:

Number 11 is in a similar position to the two slashes in Dinteville’s silk shirt.

Number 22 is possibly found with the terrestrial globe, as Agrippa reminds us that the Hebrew alphabet is made of 22 letters and also that the are 22 books in the Old testament, Jerusalem has been highlighted by being inscribed in circular text. However there is also one other possibility of associating the globe with the number 22, the diameter of the globe is just over 7 inches in diameter, which means that the circumfrence is 22 inches (PIE x diameter = circumference).

It should perhaps be noted that historians in the past have commented that because some of the scientific items are incorrectly set or inverted, then the reason for their being included in the ‘Ambassadors’ is solely for creating the air of ‘gravitas’, if the reasoning for the positioning of items within the ‘Ambassadors’ has been purposely plotted in order to align items so that they have an affinity with Agrippa’s square for the Sun, or the geometry, then a lot of hither to unanswered aspects surrounding the ‘Ambassadors’ will now have a firm reasoning behind them. The terrestrial globe is perhaps is the best example of this; it has been painted so that its axis of symmetry aligns with other key objects, but it has also been inverted so that Jerusalem and Rome align with other points positioned in the painting. To compensate inverting the globe Holbein re-inverts the text for Europe in order that you the viewer can still read those place names with ease.

The above reasoning may seem in our contemporary setting a little abstract and vague; however it represents the essence of Agrippa’s thoughts and therefore the thoughts of anyone who follows in the Hermetic Tradition. It should also be noted that a ‘magic square’ is thought to hold power when made using all the numbers, but, and perhaps more importantly, when specific numbers are linked and then encoded with their corresponding Hebrew letters, words, meanings and enchantments can be found.

Historians, particularly Mary Hervey, have previously pointed out that there is a possible occult connection surrounding Holbein’s ‘Ambassadors’. Hervey also comments that a building, built by the Dinteville’s close to their Chateau, was erected with a deliberate ‘H’ shaped entrance; she concludes that this the reasoning for this is because of the then vogue for Hermetisism. She also mentions Agrippa and states that Jean de Dinteville would certainly be aware of him, as Dinteville’s brother, Francois, was Almoner to the Princess Louise of Savoy while Agrippa was appointed her physician, but this is as far as she goes. Her own knowledge in these matters is limited, but despite this, and to her credit Hervey leaves this topic open to her readers suggesting that they must decide ‘on the possible presence or absence of intentional allusion to occult science’.  

James Bissell-Thomas