English: The portrait was most probably painted shortly after Holbein's return to Basel from England in 1528. Based on an entry in the Amerbach inventory of 1587, it is believed to show his wife, Elsbeth (born Binzenstock, and previously wife of the deceased tanner Ulrich Schmid), whom he had married in 1519. Also in the picture are his two eldest children, Philipp, born around 1522, and Katherina, born around 1526. Holbein's two youngest children, Jakob and Küngold, were born around 1529 and 1530.

Originally the figures were painted on paper. Subsequently, they were cut out round the outlines and stuck to a dark panel. Part of the fringes of the picture were lost in the cutting, including the full date (bottom right corner). Scholars have called this work, which was influenced by the religious iconography of the madonna, one of the most personal of Holbein's portraits. (References: Buck, pp. 75–76; John Rowlands, Holbein: The Paintings of Hans Holbein the Younger, Boston: David R. Godine, 1985, ISBN 0879235780, p. 31; Christian Müller; Stephan Kemperdick; Maryan W. Ainsworth; et al,. Hans Holbein the Younger: The Basel Years, 1515–1532, Munich: Prestel, 2006, ISBN 3791335804, pp. 403–405.)