Anthonis Mor Van Dashorst

1516 – 1576

Anthonis Mor van Dashorst, also called Antonio Moro, 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 (Prado, Madrid, 1554, and other versions), for which he is said to have been knighted - he is sometimes known as Sir Anthony More 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 much 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 1568 Mor worked mainly in Antwerp, where he died.

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