Antonio Moro

Antonio Moro , c.1519-c.1575, Flemish portrait painter, known as Antonis Mor or Moor and as Sir Anthony More. He studied with Jan van Scorel. In 1547 he was a free master at Antwerp and by 1549 was employed as a court painter to the house of Hapsburg. In the early 1550s he visited Italy, Spain, Portugal, and London, painting state portraits, including a famous one of Mary Tudor (1554; Prado). In his later years, while maintaining a house at Utrecht, Moro traveled widely and made additional trips to Italy and Spain. Influenced by Titian, he in turn had a strong effect upon the development of international court portraiture. His figures exhibit an incisive characterization, strong modeling and sharp lighting, and a careful attention to details, textures, and finished surfaces. His portrait subjects include William of Orange (1556; Cassel), Alessandro Farnese (1557; Parma), the artist Hubert Goltzius (1576; Brussels), and a self-portrait (1559; Uffizi).

Mor, Anthonis (b Utrecht, c.1517/20; d Antwerp, 1576/7). Netherlandish portrait painter, one of the outstanding pupils of Jan van Scorel. He was the most successful court portraitist of his day, leading an international career that took him to England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. In England he painted a portrait of Mary Tudor (1554, Prado, Madrid, and other versions), for which he is said to have been knighted—he is sometimes known as Sir Anthony More (it is thus that he appears in the Dictionary of National Biography) and the Spanish version of his name, Antonio Moro, is also commonly used. His work shows little variation throughout his career; sitters are shown life-size or a little larger, half-, three-quarter-, or full-length, turned slightly to the side, with an air of unruffled dignity. His composition is simple and strong and his grasp of character firm but undemonstrative. He owed much to Titian, but his surfaces are more detailed and polished, in the northern manner. Mor had great influence on the development of royal and aristocratic portraiture, particularly in Spain, where his ceremonious but austere style ideally suited the rigorous etiquette of the court. Sánchez Coello was his pupil. From 1567 he worked mainly in Antwerp.

Mor, Anthonis (c.1517/20–1576/7). Netherlandish portrait painter, a pupil of Jan van Scorel in his native Utrecht. He was the most successful court portraitist of his day, leading an international career that took him to England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. In England he painted a portrait of Mary Tudor (1554, Prado, Madrid, and other versions), for which he is said to have been knighted—he is sometimes known as Sir Anthony More (it is thus that he appears in the Dictionary of National Biography) and the Spanish version of his name, Antonio Moro, is also commonly used. His work shows little variation throughout his career; sitters are shown life-size or a little larger, half-, three-quarter-, or full-length, turned slight ly to the side, with an air of unruffled dignity. His composition is simple and strong and his grasp of character firm but undemonstrative. He owed much to Titian, but his surfaces are more detailed and polished in the northern manner. Mor had great influence on the development of royal and aristocratic portraiture, particularly in Spain, where his ceremonious but austere style ideally suited the rigorous etiquette of the court. Sánchez Coello was his pupil. From 1567 he worked mainly in Antwerp, where he died.