The Merchant Georg Gisze
1532
Hans Holbein the Younger froze a moment in the busy life of Georg Gisze, a wealthy Hanseatic merchant working in London. Surrounded by the clutter of international trade—hanging scales, scattered letters, and a box of coins—Gisze looks up from his desk with a calm, almost challenging stare. Keep an eye on those carnations in the glass vase; in the 1530s, they were a cheeky symbol of engagement, suggesting this serious businessman was ready to settle down. The incredible detail in his shimmering red silk sleeves and the patterned rug shows why Holbein was the ultimate celebrity portraitist of the Northern Renaissance.
Location: Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
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