Antonis Mor was one of the most celebrated portraitists of the mid-16th century, producing likenesses of Europe’s most powerful figures—from the Habsburg courts to the nobility of Spain and Portugal, England, and the Netherlands.
Born in Utrecht in the 1510s or 1520s, Antonis Mor, also known as Anthonis Mor van Dashorst or Antonio Moro, became one of the most celebrated portraitists of his time. Unlike Agnolo Bronzino, his contemporary in Italy, Mor would develop an itinerant career that took him across the leading courts of Europe. Rendered with meticulous attention to costume, his portraiture vividly captures the gravity, distinction and reserve of his sitters. His pioneering synthesis of Titian’s painterly style and Northern naturalism laid the groundwork for a new era of portraiture in the Low Countries, built upon the formal tradition of artists a generation earlier, such as Joos van Cleve, Jan Gossaert and Jan Cornelisz. Vermeyen.
Mor established himself as one of the preeminent pupils of Jan van Scorel, an inveterate Italianist, and is noted by Karel van Mander to have travelled to Italy in his youth. Scorel introduced the young Mor into the culture of the reigning court, presided over by the Regent, Mary of Hungary, the sister of Emperor Charles V. In 1547, Mor moved to Antwerp, then at its artistic and economic zenith, where he registered as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke. Two years later, he was painter to Emperor Charles V’s minister, Cardinal Granvelle (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) and attracted the country’s elite patrons such as Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Third Duke of Alba (Hispanic Society of America, New York). During this period, Charles V’s court began taking a keen interest in Titian’s colorito—the Venetian emphasis on color, texture, and painterly execution. This fascination permeated the artistic circles of Antwerp, where Mor was active at the time. Mor’s interest in Titian’s brushwork is well attested; according to Van Mander, he copied Titian’s Danaë on behalf of King Philip II of Spain.
Selected artworks
Top 3 auction prices
2023
2019
2019
Further Reading
Thera Coppens, Antonius Mor: Hofschilder van Karel V, Baarn, 2009
Joanna Woodall, Anthonis Mor: Art and Authority, Zwolle, 2007.
L.C.J. Frerichs, Antonio Moro, Amsterdam, 1947.
Georges Marlier, Anthonis Mor van Dashorst (Antonio Moro), Brussels, 1934.
Henri Hymans, Antonio Moro: son œeuvre et son temps, Brussels, 1910.
Karel van Mander, Het Schilder-boeck, Haarlem, 1604.
Notable Exhibitions
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Remember Me: More than 100 Renaissance Portraits, from Dürer to Sofonisba, 1 October 2021–16 January 2022. Curated by Sara van Dijk and Matthias Ubl.
Brussels, Centre for Fine Arts, Portraits from the Low Countries, 5 February – 17 May 2015. Curated by Till-Holger Borchert and Koenraad Jonckheere.
Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain, 28 June–29 November 2009; traveled to Madrid, Museo del Prado, The Art of Power. The Royal Armoury and Court Portraiture, 9 March–23 May 2010. Curated by Álvaro Soler del Campo.