HANS HOLBEIN THE YOUNGER (1497/8-1543)
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)
c.1526-7RCIN 912268
Sir Thomas More (1478–1535) trained as a lawyer and rose to become Lord Chancellor in 1529. He was a talented scholar and became one of Holbein’s earliest patrons in England. More’s high-profile opposition to the King’s reforms led to his execution in 1535. This drawing is a study for a portrait of More now in New York. The outlines have been pricked in order to transfer the image to another surface.
watermark: Briquet 1827: three fleurs de lys in a crowned shield [same as 12272,12266]