Hiding in Plain Sight

IN EARLY-MODERN EUROPE, CIPHERS EXPRESSED ROMANCE, FRIENDSHIP AND MORE. SOME REMAIN MYSTERIES TO THIS DAY

PAYING COURT

Hans Holbein the Younger, the German artist who served in Henry VIII’s court, created this plan for a small shield, likely when the king was romancing Anne Boleyn; the pair’s initials are joined in a lover’s knot. The image appears in Holbein’s Jewellery

Book, now in the British Museum.

PRIVATE LIVES

Right, a Holbein design, likely for Henry’s third queen, Jane Seymour, includes the “RE” amid gems and pearls. Such a cipher may have been inscrutable to all but a select few, and could refer to a private romantic moment. Left, a circa 15321543 design for a pendant set with emeralds and a pearl does not seem to contain a cipher.

GREEK TO US

This cipher—not designed by Holbein—combines the Greek initials of Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, the 17th-century French intellectual and astronomer. It is inscribed on a book by Sir Francis Bacon that de Peiresc gave to his friend and biographer Pierre Gassendi in 1636.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

Top, a Holbein design for a pendant jewel joins the initials of Henry and Anne. Above, the artist combines letters “HNAXGRSD”— meaning unknown.

STILL SCRAMBLED

This design contains the letters “LONHVAYGIMW.” While some Holbein ciphers offer legible acronyms for sentences in French, modern scholars deem this one impenetrable.