Short answers, pulled from the story.
Hans Holbein the Younger was a German painter and printmaker of Swiss descent, born around 1497 in Augsburg, who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century, best known for creating the iconic image of Henry VIII and fixing the likenesses of Erasmus, Thomas More, and Thomas Cromwell for posterity.
Holbein became King's Painter to Henry VIII by 1535, on an annual salary of 30 pounds. His most famous royal image, showing Henry VIII in a heroic stance with feet planted apart, was painted in 1537 as part of a wall painting at Whitehall Palace, later destroyed by fire in 1698.
The Ambassadors, painted by Holbein in 1533, contains an anamorphic skull stretched across the lower portion of the canvas. It only resolves into recognisable form when viewed from a sharp angle to the side. Scholars read it as a reference to mortality, set against symbols of learning, wealth, and religious tension.
Holbein founded no school. The only artist who appears to have adopted his technique directly was John Bettes the Elder, whose Man in a Black Cap of 1545 is close in style to Holbein. The miniature portraitist Nicholas Hilliard wrote that "Holbein's manner have I ever imitated, and hold it for the best."
Hans Holbein the Younger died between the 7th of October and the 29th of November 1543, at the age of 45, at his home in Aldgate, London. Karel van Mander stated in the early 17th century that he died of the plague, though some scholars suggest an infection. The site of his grave is unknown and may never have been marked; the churches of St Katherine Cree or St Andrew Undershaft in London have been suggested as possible locations.
Erasmus was a decisive patron and advocate for Holbein. In 1523, Holbein painted the first of his portraits of Erasmus, which the scholar sent to friends across Europe and which made Holbein internationally known. In 1526, Erasmus wrote a personal recommendation to Thomas More to introduce Holbein and secure him English commissions, saying "The arts are freezing in this part of the world, and he is on the way to England to pick up some angels."