hand, they may indeed have had some kind of ritual function or use at the funeral which cul- minated in their being broken and thrown into the tomb – all this both exhibition and catalogue tell us, but we are given no docu- mentation, argument or evidence for these assertions. Indeed this line of speculation is in principle less interesting than the very early intimations of naturalism in these heads. At the same time, in the fifth century the pres- ence of a lovely marble funerary stele with a warrior in typical Macedonian hat and cloak, carrying two spears and a dove (no.83), in what looks very like Attic style, hints at the importation not only of pottery and other artefacts from Athens, but perhaps also of artists. Certainly, by the end of the century, even the famed playwright Euripides had come to work for the Macedonian court. It is amazing that at this terrible moment economically in the modern history of Greece, such an excellent exhibition should have come to Britain at all – with the full support and sponsorship of the Greek Government as well as a number of private foundations. Let us hope that the cuts which are closing the museums and sites of Greece at this period, at least according to press reports, do not impede for too long the vibrant and spectacular archaeological project that is casting so much light on the remains of ancient Macedon and to which the Ashmolean show is such an impressive witness. 1 Catalogue: Heracles to Alexander the Great: Treasures from the Royal Capital of Macedon, a Hellenic Kingdom in the Age of Democracy. Edited by Angeliki Kottaridi and Susan Walker. 264 pp. incl. numerous col. ills. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 2011), £25 (PB). ISBN 978–1–85444–254–3. Hans Holbein the Elder Stuttgart by TILL-HOLGER BORCHERT UNLIKE HIS INTERNATIONALLY famous son, Hans Holbein the Elder is – even in Germany – comparatively little known and studied, and the last exhibition devoted to his work was as long ago as 1965, when Hans Holbein d.Ä. und die Kunst der Spätgotik was shown in Augsburg, the city in which the artist spent most of his life. That exhibition focused as much on the painter himself as it did on art in this imperial town in Swabia around 1500. Comprising no less than 280 exhibits, it was selected by Bruno Bushardt, the leading expert on the older Holbein whose monographs on the artist (1965 and 1987) remain reliable reference books on the artist to this day. The Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, therefore must be congratulated for the initiative, com- mitment and perseverance in organising the fascinating and complex exhibition Hans Holbein d.Ä.: Die Graue Passion in ihrer Zeit (closed 20th March). 1 It was both a long- overdue reassessment of the painter and an in-focus presentation that highlighted (and justly celebrated) the conservation treatment of Holbein’s Grey Passion, one of the most important acquisitions by the Staatsgalerie in the field of German painting around 1500. The museum acquired the Grey Passion with substantial funding by various gov- ernment and corporate sponsors from the Fürstenberg collection in 2003. The unique ensemble, consisting of twelve panels depict- ing the Passion of Christ in a highly refined semi-grisaille, had previously been on view in Stuttgart as a long-term loan. The acqui- sition not only secured the chef-d’œuvre of the Fürstenberg collection (based in Donaueschin- gen) for a public museum in Germany, but was also a major addition to the Staatsgalerie’s rich holdings of late Gothic and Renaissance painting. Since 2008 the panels of the Grey Passion have been (and still are) the subject of a thorough conservation treatment based on scientific examination. The results of this were the subject of a well-conceived didactic section within the exhibition that – as has become increasingly customary and popular – used explanatory wall displays alongside video projections to acquaint the visitor with the technique of the works and the complexities of conservation of late Gothic panels. The results of the restoration, however, were already overwhelmingly apparent the instant one entered the exhibition, even if the treatment was not entirely completed: the Passion was displayed in four vertical rows, each consisting of three panels mounted above each other (Fig.34). This resembled the original arrangement of what was to be seen on the interior and the exterior of the wings of a disassembled altarpiece that originally must have measured about three by four metres. The subtle variations of tonality of the grisaille scenes, which Holbein used to differ- entiate between exterior and interior, are glo- riously restored: the contrast between the cold colours and dark blue ground of the exterior grisailles (Fig.35) and the warm tonality set against a greyish-brown ground of those in the interior (Fig.36) was simply breathtaking. The high ceilings of the exhibition room enhanced the monumental character of Hol- bein’s panels, if at the cost of making it impos- sible to examine the upper panels up close. The selection of loans – an impressive number of 150 pieces, some of them part of larger series – was based on the decision to focus chiefly on three aspects of the Grey Passion. First, attention was given to Holbein’s development and his position within Augs- burg and the Swabian school. Starting with Passion scenes by the enigmatic Augsburg Master of 1477 (Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart; cat. no.103), this section represented much com- parative material, and presented sculptures from the Michel Erhardt workshop (The Crucifixion from Rottweil; no.32) as well as an impressive selection of paintings by Holbein, such as panels from the Vetter epitaph and the Kaishaim altarpiece (all Bayerische Staats- gemäldesammlungen, Augsburg; nos.52–55) EXHIBITIONS the burlington magazine • cliiI • august 2011 555 33. Clay bust. Aegae, c.480 BC. Clay, approx. 30 cm. high. (Museum of the Royal Tombs of Aegae, Vergina; exh. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford). 34. Installation view of the exhibition Hans Holbein d.Ä.: Die Graue Passion in ihrer Zeit at the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart. ER.AUG.pg.proof.corrs:Layout 1 21/07/2011 09:50 Page 555