Hans Holbein, who was commissioned to paint this work, arrived in London in 1526, a year before the present work was executed. With a letter of introduction from Erasmus of Rotterdam, Holbein entered Thomas More’s circle by living near him in Chelsea. More, famous both as a scholar and humanist and author of Utopia, was a great statesman. At this time, he served Henry VIII of England as a privy councillor and later became his Chancellor in 1529. When he refused to sign the Act of Supremacy making the king the head of the Church of England, he was convicted of high treason and beheaded on 6 July 1535.
Collection: Images
Project: 11. Science and culture as representation in Europe.
Chronology: XVI
Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University
Resource type: Image
Format: Oil on panel (74,9 x 60,3 cm)
Source: Frick Gallery (Nueva York)
Language: English
Date: 1527
Owner: Álvaro Romero González (Modernalia)
Identifier: 1912.1.77
Copyright: Frick Gallery (Nueva York)
Abstract: Portrait of Thomas More by Hans Holbein
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