# Portrait of Nikolaus Kratzer \(detail\) [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Tempera on oak ## Commentary Nikolaus Kratzer \(1487-1550\) was an astronomer from Munich. After his studies in Oxford he went into the service of Henry VIII, King of England. He was the teacher of the daughters of Thomas Moore and he was acquainted with Holbein at Moore's house. They became close friends. The tools Kratzer needed to construct his astronomical instruments are shown with great precision. In his right hand he holds dividers, with which he is working on a ten-sided sundial. Further parts of the incomplete instrument lie alongside a ruler and a woodcutting knife on the left on the table. In addition, an auger, scissors, a divider, and a hammer are shown. ## Related artworks - [Adam and Eve]() - [Apollo and the Muses on Parnassus]() - [Charitas]() - [Charles Brandon]() - [Christ as the True Light]() - [Christina of Denmark, Ducchess of Milan \(detail\)]() - [Christina of Denmark, Ducchess of Milan]() - [Courtier of Henry VIII and his Wife]() - [Darmstadt Madonna \(detail\)]() - [Darmstadt Madonna \(detail\)]() - [Darmstadt Madonna \(detail\)]() - [Darmstadt Madonna \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()