Sir Thomas More
Medium
oil on wood in a gilt wood frame
Dimensions
unframed: 6.7 × 6.4 cm · diam. 6.5 cm
Classification
Portrait Miniature
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Edward B. Greene Collection
Accession Number
1957.356
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
One of the most original of Renaissance thinkers, an influential politician at the court of Henry VIII, and, since 1935, a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Sir Thomas More also played an important role in the development of English portraiture through his patronage of Hans Holbein the Younger. Here More wears a so-called livery chain, a mark of his service to Henry VIII. He would eventually be beheaded in 1535, when he refused to support the king’s divorce and breach with the Catholic church....