Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are pleased to offer for sale this early 19th Century Portrait Oil on Board of Sir Thomas More, or Saint Thomas More, as he is known by Catholics, after the portrait of him in 1527 by the artist Hans Holbein.the Younger, now in the Frick Collection in new York. The painting that we have was executed in the mid 19th Century by an artist, a Mrs. N. surname illegible, who pasted to the back of the board, the print that she copied it from.

This print was after the painting by Holbein, but was engraved by Edward Finden and was used as a frontispiece to a book by Robert Southey 'Sit Thomas More' or 'Colloquies' published in 1829. The artist has written on the print with the date Aug, but the year is indistinguishable, as is the rest of her surname and the writing in the top left hand corner. We have studied the inscriptions with a strong magnifying glass and a loupe with led light, but to no avail. The photo of the print is shown. We could distinguish the Painted by Holbein and engraved by Edw. Finden in faint typeface. There should have been a larger title further down which said Sir Thomas More, but this had been cut off.

Sit Thomas More is pictured dressed as a Privy Councillor, wearing a fur collared gown over his green full sleeved doublet and he is wearig his Esses Chain and Seal of Office.

'Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 1532. He wrote Utopia, published in 1516,[ which describes the political system of an imaginary island state.

More opposed the Protestant Reformation, directing polemics against the theology of Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin and William Tyndale. More also opposed Henry VIII's separation from the Catholic Church, refusing to acknowledge Henry as supreme head of the Church of England and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. After refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, he was convicted of treason and executed. On his execution, he was reported to have said: "I die the King's good servant, and God's first".

Pope Pius XI canonised More in 1935 as a martyr. Pope John Paul II in 2000 declared him the patron saint of statesmen and politicians.' (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

The painting has been newly framed in an ornate floral and foliate Victorian gilt frame and new slip, which suits it very well. It will be supplied wired with new brass hangers, new brass picture wire and will be ready to hang.

Image size: 15 x 10 3/4 inches - 38cm x 27.35cm

Frame size: 23 x 19 inches - 58.4cm x 48.25cm

Medium: Oils on board

Condition: Very good for its age. There is overall craquelure, but there is no missing paint and the surface is clean and stable. The frame is in very good condition for its age with only very minor losses to the sides.