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Lot Essay
This small portrait represents the famed humanist scholar and former Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, during the days prior to his execution. He is depicted with a full beard, in a black cap and holding a crucifix. More reputedly grew his beard while in prison, after having been convicted of high treason due to his refusal to endorse the Act of Supremacy, making King Henry VIII the head of the Church of England. The beard itself appears to have been the subject of one of More’s most famous quips. First recorded by Edward Hall in his Chronicle (1548), the story was embellished by Francis Bacon in his Apophthegms New and Old (1625), in which he writes, “Sir Thomas Moore…at the very instant of his death, having a pretty long beard, after his head was upon the block, lift it up again, and gently drew his beard aside, and said, This hath not offended the King” (see C.C. Doyle, “The hair and beard of Thomas More”, Moreana, IIXX, 1981, 5-6).
The portrait derives from Holbein’s likeness of More as Lord Chancellor, which exists in several versions, the most celebrated of which is the 1527 panel in Frick Collection, New York. As Mark Evans has observed (private communication), a version of the present portrait appears to have existed by the 1560s - in his Vita Thomae Mori (1588), Thomas Stapleton notes that his description of More was based on “a life-like image, made with great skill, of More going out to the place of execution”, which he had been shown by More’s foster-daughter Margaret Giggs (d.1570). Stapleton continues, “His beard was long and disordered, his face was pale and thin from the rigour of his confinement. He held in his hand a red cross and raised his eyes to heaven. His robe was of the very poorest and coarsest”.
Our portrait appears to have originally been paired with the similarly-scaled portrait of More as Lord Chancellor, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art (fig. 1). Two other versions of our likeness are known, both of which are similarly paired with pendants of More while he was still in Henry VIII’s good graces. Notably, these other examples are no earlier than 17th century in date. Of these two later versions, the first is painted in oil on card (Victoria & Albert Museum, P.37-1983 (45 x 41 mm) and the second is in oil on canvas (22.8 x 30.5 cm.; loaned by Thomas M. Eyston to the 1977 The King’s Good Servant: Sir Thomas More exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, no. 286). A photograph of a third version was seen in 1887 by Sir George Scharf, who noted that the work was at the time in the Barberini Palace, Rome, and portrayed More in gown, skull-cap and beard.
The present portrait has a photo certificate from Max J. Friedländer, dated October 27, 1952, stating it to be "a well preserved work by Hans Holbein." The 1982 catalogue of the Cleveland Museum of Art attributed their picture to a 17th-century follower of Holbein. This conclusion was endorsed by John Rowlands in his 1985 Holbein monograph (under no. 24, p. 132), who determined it to be a copy, painted no earlier than the 17th century. It is unlikely that Rowlands ever had the opportunity to view the present work in person, however, and close inspection reveals it to be of distinguished quality with refined and delicate brushwork. Dendrochronological examination by Peter Klein determined the support to be an oak board originating from the Polish/Baltic regions. Dr. Klein observed 45 growth rings, with the youngest heartwood ring formed out in the year 1511 and concluded that the earliest date of creation for our painting is 1522 upward, with a most plausible creation date of 1528 upward.
We are grateful to Dr. Jeanne Nuechterlein for first identifying the sitter of our portrait as Sir Thomas More. Our thanks also to Dr. Mark Evans for sharing his research about the origins and other versions of this likeness, as well as for providing additional provenance for the present lot.
The portrait derives from Holbein’s likeness of More as Lord Chancellor, which exists in several versions, the most celebrated of which is the 1527 panel in Frick Collection, New York. As Mark Evans has observed (private communication), a version of the present portrait appears to have existed by the 1560s - in his Vita Thomae Mori (1588), Thomas Stapleton notes that his description of More was based on “a life-like image, made with great skill, of More going out to the place of execution”, which he had been shown by More’s foster-daughter Margaret Giggs (d.1570). Stapleton continues, “His beard was long and disordered, his face was pale and thin from the rigour of his confinement. He held in his hand a red cross and raised his eyes to heaven. His robe was of the very poorest and coarsest”.
Our portrait appears to have originally been paired with the similarly-scaled portrait of More as Lord Chancellor, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art (fig. 1). Two other versions of our likeness are known, both of which are similarly paired with pendants of More while he was still in Henry VIII’s good graces. Notably, these other examples are no earlier than 17th century in date. Of these two later versions, the first is painted in oil on card (Victoria & Albert Museum, P.37-1983 (45 x 41 mm) and the second is in oil on canvas (22.8 x 30.5 cm.; loaned by Thomas M. Eyston to the 1977 The King’s Good Servant: Sir Thomas More exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, no. 286). A photograph of a third version was seen in 1887 by Sir George Scharf, who noted that the work was at the time in the Barberini Palace, Rome, and portrayed More in gown, skull-cap and beard.
The present portrait has a photo certificate from Max J. Friedländer, dated October 27, 1952, stating it to be "a well preserved work by Hans Holbein." The 1982 catalogue of the Cleveland Museum of Art attributed their picture to a 17th-century follower of Holbein. This conclusion was endorsed by John Rowlands in his 1985 Holbein monograph (under no. 24, p. 132), who determined it to be a copy, painted no earlier than the 17th century. It is unlikely that Rowlands ever had the opportunity to view the present work in person, however, and close inspection reveals it to be of distinguished quality with refined and delicate brushwork. Dendrochronological examination by Peter Klein determined the support to be an oak board originating from the Polish/Baltic regions. Dr. Klein observed 45 growth rings, with the youngest heartwood ring formed out in the year 1511 and concluded that the earliest date of creation for our painting is 1522 upward, with a most plausible creation date of 1528 upward.
We are grateful to Dr. Jeanne Nuechterlein for first identifying the sitter of our portrait as Sir Thomas More. Our thanks also to Dr. Mark Evans for sharing his research about the origins and other versions of this likeness, as well as for providing additional provenance for the present lot.