DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68073#0272
246
OLD WORLD MASTERS
“More has built near London upon the Thames a modest but com-
modious house. There he lives surrounded by his large family—-
his wife, his son, his son’s wife, his three daughters and their husbands
with eleven grand-children. There is not any man living so affection-
ate to his children as he, and he loveth his old wife as if she were a
girl of fifteen. Such is the goodness of his nature that whatsoever
cometh about which cannot be helped he is as cheerful and well
satisfied as if the best had happened. In More’s house you would
say that the Academy of Plato lived again save that whereas in the
Academy the conversation turned upon geometry and the power of
numbers, the house at Chelsea is a true school of Christian religion.
In it is no one, man or woman, but studdieth the liberal arts, yet
above all piety is their care. There is never any seen idle; the head of
the house governs it, not by lofty demeanor and frequent rebukes,
but by gentle and lovable manners. Everyone is busy in his place
doing his business with diligence; nor is sober mirth absent.”
DIRK BERCK OF COLOGNE.
Hans Holbein Collection of the
(1497-1543). Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
When Holbein returned to England on his second trip in 1532, his
friend and patron, Sir Thomas More, was out of favor. However,
he found a cordial welcome among his compatriots—the German
merchants of the Steelyard. These German merchants had formed
themselves into an association of real power: indeed, they had made
a little city of their own, which went by the name of Stahlhof, where
they managed all their business, kept their stores, had their counting-
houses, their Bourse, their Guildhall, and their homes; and, being
Germans, of course they had a festival-hall and spacious gardens on
the bank of the Thames, where they could enjoy themselves. The
company, forming a part of the great Hanseatic League, was opulent
and dealt largely in iron and precious metals.
Consequently, among the group were skilled goldsmiths, watch-
makers, armorers, and many other prosperous artisans as well as
OLD WORLD MASTERS
“More has built near London upon the Thames a modest but com-
modious house. There he lives surrounded by his large family—-
his wife, his son, his son’s wife, his three daughters and their husbands
with eleven grand-children. There is not any man living so affection-
ate to his children as he, and he loveth his old wife as if she were a
girl of fifteen. Such is the goodness of his nature that whatsoever
cometh about which cannot be helped he is as cheerful and well
satisfied as if the best had happened. In More’s house you would
say that the Academy of Plato lived again save that whereas in the
Academy the conversation turned upon geometry and the power of
numbers, the house at Chelsea is a true school of Christian religion.
In it is no one, man or woman, but studdieth the liberal arts, yet
above all piety is their care. There is never any seen idle; the head of
the house governs it, not by lofty demeanor and frequent rebukes,
but by gentle and lovable manners. Everyone is busy in his place
doing his business with diligence; nor is sober mirth absent.”
DIRK BERCK OF COLOGNE.
Hans Holbein Collection of the
(1497-1543). Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
When Holbein returned to England on his second trip in 1532, his
friend and patron, Sir Thomas More, was out of favor. However,
he found a cordial welcome among his compatriots—the German
merchants of the Steelyard. These German merchants had formed
themselves into an association of real power: indeed, they had made
a little city of their own, which went by the name of Stahlhof, where
they managed all their business, kept their stores, had their counting-
houses, their Bourse, their Guildhall, and their homes; and, being
Germans, of course they had a festival-hall and spacious gardens on
the bank of the Thames, where they could enjoy themselves. The
company, forming a part of the great Hanseatic League, was opulent
and dealt largely in iron and precious metals.
Consequently, among the group were skilled goldsmiths, watch-
makers, armorers, and many other prosperous artisans as well as