The Family of Thomas More
1787RCIN 659104
This print is a copy of a pen and ink drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger, now in Basel. Holbein’s drawing is his annotated record of an early draft of his painting of the family of Sir Thomas More. The group portrait was one of the artist’s first commissions after his arrival in England in 1526. Holbein sent the drawing as a gift to More’s friend Erasmus in 1528. Holbein showed the members of More’s household sitting and standing, in conversation and reading books. Although the painting no longer survives, it is known through early copies and Holbein’s portrait drawings of members of the family which are in the Royal Collection.