_Ascribed to Sir Antonio More_ (Flemish: 1512-1578).
Antonij Mor (commonly known in this country as Sir Antonio
More, though when and by whom he was knighted does not appear)
succeeded Holbein as the principal portrait-painter settled in
England. "Mor's style," it has been said, "so much resembles
that of Holbein as to frequently create a doubt to which of
them a portrait is to be attributed; but he is not so clear
and delicate in his colouring, perhaps from having painted so
much in Spain, as that master." He was born at Antwerp and
studied under Schorel (see 720). An example of his earlier
manner, dated 1544, is in the Berlin Museum. Mor afterwards
travelled in Italy, and quickly emancipated himself from the
dry manner of Schorel, as his portrait of Cardinal Granvelle
at Vienna, done in 1549, shows. His portraits from this time
forward are remarkable for their "unpretentious dignity."
Cardinal Granvelle introduced him to the service of Charles
V., by whom he was sent to Portugal to paint some of the royal
family. He was in the service of Queen Mary from 1554 to 1558.
She presented him with a hundred pounds and a gold chain, and
allowed him a hundred pounds a quarter. He was also largely
employed by the Howards and the Russells and others, grandees
of the court. One of his portraits of the Queen is in the Duke
of Wellington's Collection at Apsley House. When Philip went
to Spain to take possession of the throne, Mor accompanied
him, and for some time basked in the full sunshine of royal
favour. Suddenly he withdrew to Brussels, for some cause which
has never been satisfactorily explained. According to one
story, the king, visiting Mor's studio, laid his hand upon
his shoulder as he stood at the easel--a familiarity which
the artist returned by rudely rapping the royal knuckles with
his maulstick, or daubing them with carmine. The officers of
the Inquisition took advantage of this incident, it is said,
to vent their jealous wrath against the painter. He finally
established himself at Antwerp, his declining years being spent
in ease and opulence--the fruits of successful industry at the
courts of England, Portugal, and Spain. He is described to
us as "very much the courtier, and a gentleman of grave and
majestic manners"--a description borne out by the fine portrait
of himself at Althorp.