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1 of 253523 objects
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Sir John More (c.1451-1530) c.1526-7
Black and coloured chalks | 35.1 x 27.3 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 912224
Chambers Gallery, The King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace
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A portrait drawing of Sir John More (c.1451-1530). He is shown bust length, facing slightly to the right. He wears a black hat and fur collar. The drawing is in black and coloured chalks, which have been wetted to create the flesh tone of the face.
An eighteenth-century inscription (a copy of a mid-sixteenth-century original) at top left identifies the sitter as 'Iudge More Sr Tho: Mores Father.'
This is one of a group of studies made by Holbein shortly after his arrival in England for a large group portrait of Sir Thomas More and his family. The finished painting was destroyed by fire in 1752, but a sketch for the composition survives in Basel and individual studies for seven of the sitters are in the Royal Collection. An early copy of the finished work by Rowland Lockey at Nostell Priory in West Yorkshite may record the appearance of the final painting.
Sir John More was the father of Sir Thomas More. He was a judge and at the time he was portrayed by Holbein was a justice of the King's Bench, having been appointed to that position in 1520.Provenance
Henry VIII; Edward VI, 1547; Henry FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel; by whom bequeathed to John, Lord Lumley, 1580; by whom probably bequeathed to Henry, Prince of Wales, 1609, and thus inherited by Prince Charles (later Charles I), 1612; by whom exchanged with Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, 1627/8; by whom given to Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel; acquired by Charles II by 1675
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Black and coloured chalks
Measurements
35.1 x 27.3 cm (sheet of paper)
Markings
watermark: Briquet 12863, crowned vase with flower [same as 12225,12270,12229,12217,12215,12263,12258,12190,12193,12206]
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
RL 12224
