The Morgan Library & Museum proudly presents Holbein: Capturing Character, opening Friday, Feb 11, and running through Sunday, May 15. Co-organized with the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Calif., this marks the first major U.S. exhibition dedicated to the art of Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/981543). The Morgans display will feature around 60 objects from over 20 lenders across the globe, including 31 paintings and drawings by Holbein himself. Hans Holbein the Younger was among the most skilled, versatile, and inventive European artists of the 16th century. He created captivating portraits of courtiers, merchants, scholars, and statesmen in Basel, Switzerland, and later in England, and served as a court painter to King Henry VIII (14911547). Enriched by inscriptions, insignia, and evocative attributes, his portraits not only conveyed truthful likenesses but also celebrated the individuals identities, values, aspirations, and achievements. Spanning the artists entire career, Holbein: Capturing Character begins with the artists early years in Basel, where he was active in the book trade and created iconic portraits of the great humanist scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam (14661536). Holbein stayed in England from 1526 to 1528 and moved there permanently in 1532, quickly becoming the most sought-after artist among nobles, courtiers, and the German merchants of the Hanseatic League. In addition to displaying superb examples of Holbeins drawn and painted likenesses of his sitters, the exhibition also explores the artists activities as a designer of prints, book illustrations, personal devices (emblems accompanied by mottos), and jewels. The Morgans presentation will also include a section devoted to the development of Holbein and Hans Ltzelburgers (d. 1526) Images of Death (ca. 1526 and 1538), the renowned series of 40 woodcuts that is the masterwork of both artists in this medium. Works by Holbeins famed contemporaries, such as Jan Gossaert (ca. 14781532) and Quentin Metsys (14661530), and a display of intricate period jewelry and book bindings offer further insights into the cultural interest in the representation of individual identity that developed in that period. Taken as a whole, the exhibition demonstrates the visual splendor of the art and culture of the time. Holbein: Capturing Character includes some of Holbeins best-known works. In A Lady With a Squirrel and a Starling (Anne Lovell) (ca. 152628), painted during his first trip to London, an elegant woman, dressed in an ermine fur cap and a fine silk shawl, holds a squirrel on her lap. The identity of the sitter remained unknown until 2004, when the animals in this portrait were identified as references to the Lovell family. Anne Lovell (ne Ashby; d. 1539) was an English noblewoman whose husband, Sir Francis Lovell, served King Henry VIII. Her pet red squirrel, restrained by a silver chain and nibbling a hazelnut, alludes to the squirrels on the Lovell family crest. The starling on the left is a visual pun on East Harling, the location of the Lovell estate in Norfolk, England. We are extraordinarily excited to bring a Hans Holbein the Younger exhibition of this magnitude to the Morgan in partnership with the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. This multi-disciplinary show, with its exceptional loans, is the first of its kind in the United States; it will give museum goers the opportunity to experience first-hand signal examples from the career of one of the most engaging artists of the European Renaissance, stated The Morgans director, Colin B. Bailey. An array of engaging public programs will accompany the exhibition. To learn more, visit www.themorgan.org. The Morgan Library & Museum is located at 225 Madison Ave. at 36th Street in New York City.