1604
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Sir Thomas More is a 1604 unspecified by Hans Holbein the Younger, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This portrait shows Sir Thomas More in dark clothes, a white ruff, and a gold chain. He looks calm but serious. The chain is a livery chain, a gift from Henry VIII for his royal service. More was a key thinker in the Renaissance. He also refused to accept the king’s divorce, which cost him his head in 1535. Holbein painted him this way to show his wisdom and status. Check out another Holbein portrait in the same museum.
One of the most original of Renaissance thinkers, an influential politician at the court of Henry VIII, and, since 1935, a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Sir Thomas More also played an important role in the development of English portraiture through his patronage of Hans Holbein the Younger. Here More wears a so-called livery chain, a mark of his service to Henry VIII. He would eventually be beheaded in 1535, when he refused to support the king’s divorce and breach with the Catholic church. This miniature painted by a later follower of Holbein attests to the enduring resonance of More’s…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Hans Holbein the Younger (UK: HOL-byne, US: HOHL-byne, HAWL-; German: Hans Holbein der Jüngere; c.
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