Image: Study for portrait of the More family, by Hans Holbein the Younger

Description: Study for the Family Portrait of Thomas More. Pen and brush in black on top of chalk sketch, 38.9 × 52.4 cm. Kupferstichkabinett, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel. This is a preparatory sketch for Holbein's portrait of the family of Thomas More, now lost, thought to be the first life-sized group portrait north of the Alps. The painted work was copied several times—by the artist Rowland Lockey (c. 1565-1616), among others—though differences between the copies and this sketch suggest that intervening versions may have existed, adjusted in response to changes in the English church after the original was painted. More was executed in 1535 for his opposition to Henry VIII's religious reforms. The astronomer Nicholas Kratzer (1487–1550), a friend of Holbein and More, and the tutor of More's children, added the names and ages of the sitters in Latin on the sketch in brown ink. On the left is Elizabeth Dauncy, More's second daughter; beside her is his adopted daughter, Margaret Giggs, explaining a point to Thomas More's father, John More; Thomas More himself sits in the centre, with the engaged couple Anne Cresacre and his only son, John More, on either side of him; beside John More is the household fool, Henry Patenson; on the right of the picture are More's youngest daughter, Cecily Heron, and his eldest daughter, Margaret Roper; More's second wife, Alice, is kneeling on the extreme right. Holbein also drew individual portraits in preparation for the composition, seven of which have survived, as well as painting an individual portrait of Thomas More in a similar pose. Some scholars believe that the sketch was sent to More's friend the humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus, who had recommended Holbein to him and who praised the piece; another view is that More sent Erasmus a version of the actual painting. (References: Buck, 53; Christian Müller; Stephan Kemperdick; Maryan W. Ainsworth; et al,. Hans Holbein the Younger: The Basel Years, 1515–1532, Munich: Prestel, 2006, ISBN 3791335804, pp. 370–74; Derek Wilson, Hans Holbein: Portrait of an Unknown Man, London: Pimlico, Revised Edition, 2006, ISBN 9781844139187, pp. 157–58.)
Title: Study for portrait of the More family, by Hans Holbein the Younger
Credit: Stephanie Buck, Hans Holbein, Cologne: Könemann, 1999, ISBN 3829025831.
Author: Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/1498–1543)
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No