#antonis mor

[dumbbitchhour]

(follower of) Antonis Mor, Portrait of a Court Lady, c. 1565 x

[themonsterousregimentofwomens]

Queen Mary I after Antonis Mor through the centuries

[closeupofpaintings]

Antonis Mor - Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal, 1552 (detail), oil on panel

[downtothemarrow]

This is an appreciation post for the artwork of Antonis Mor (1517-1577), the Netherlandish portrait painter who had incredible portraits

I was reading the Wikipedia pages of Anne Boleyn's execution and then the Boleyns and then the Tudors (as one does on a Friday night). and I was looking at the paintings, which were typically by Hans Holbein the Younger:

and yeah that's all great, crazy attention to the detail, very good, very impressive yeah yeah. and that's when I came across THIS painting of Queen Mary!!!!!

and it took my breath away! look at how real it is!

but most importantly look at her face!

it is haunting. and definitely not in a bad way!

So I looked up the painter, Antonis Mor, hoping that he had equally "good" works, and my god, his portraits have such realism. and I love Holbein's works, don't get me wrong, he was an immaculate painter with immaculate attention to detail (my apologies to the art historians for making them rip their hair off their head), but it blows my mind that he was a contemporary of Mor. talk about style!!!

I looked up other portraits my Mor. here are the most mind blowing. excuse me while I zoom in, because I simply must

I swear to god I know who she is

and this lady, I definitely saw her in a movie.

and what about these men? IDK but I'm sure they would have a lot to tell me if we went to a pub for an ale or something.

look at this gentleman!

he has a face that commands but also you know that he loves to laugh when he is with his friends. AND HE HAS A PUPPY. of course he has a puppy.

what about her? doesn't she have the kindest eyes? I know she would listen to me with a light heart if I complained to her about anything and she would tell me to count my blessings or something.

ANYWAY.

my favorite painting by Mor is this one. it is the most mind blowing one for me.

isn't it such a haunting face?

Wikipedia sums up Antonis Mor's portraits succintly: "His works can include considerable psychological penetration, especially in portraits of men, but always gives the subject a grand and self-possessed air." when Mor paints someone, you know these people. you could see these people on the street. they are not two-sided, shallow pictures, they are living and breathing people with stories and feelings and thoughts.

here's the painter himself:

Check out his Wikimedia and Wikipedia if you like. There are many more on his Wikimedia that I haven't added here.

Anyway. I learned about Mor today. Now you've learned about him too, yay!

Bonus:

He was a good portrait painter but not so much a dog painter lol

[history-of-fashion]

16th century Antonis Mor - Portrait of a Man

(Detroit Institute of Arts)

[themonsterousregimentofwomens]

Portrait of Queen Mary I after Antonis Mor c. 1554

[roehenstart]

Günther the Belligerent as a young colonel. Unknown artist (possibly Antonis Mor).

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: Portrait of Philip II of Spain Artist: Antonis Mor, also called Antonio Moro (ca. 1517/19-1575) Date: 1549/50 Genre: portraiture Period: High Renaissance Medium: oil on panel Dimensions: 107.5 cm (42.3 in) high x 83.3 cm (32.7 in) wide Location: Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Bilbao, Spain

This portrait depicts the future King Philip II of Spain as a young prince, finely dressed and wearing around his neck the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece, a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 by Philip the Good of Burgundy.

Antonis Mor, whose name has enough alternative versions and spellings to populate a baseball team, was born in Utrecht but worked throughout Europe, enjoying special favor with the Habsburgs. His portrait style, influenced by Titian, in turn influenced Diego Velázquez and other masters of the Spanish Golden Age.