Hans Holbein the Younger was a leading figure of the Northern Renaissance, who continues to exercise an enormous influence in our understanding of the mid-Tudor age, but who was also a member of Thomas Cromwell's intelligence service. This is his biography. Moving from the Low Countries, to Switzerland, to England, this book sets Holbein in the context of his turbulent age. We watch Holbein's rise from an uneventful life in the bourgeoisie to the echelons of power and a life of covert diplomacy in a bitterly-divided Europe. The book also provides a picture of Renaissance espionage. In parallel to the machinations of power, the book investigates the intricate puzzles that so delighted the Renaissance mind; Holbein's symbols and iconography contain codes, cyphers and hidden messages, some simply intellectual games, others of vital importance to Cromwell's purposes.