Contents
What is the painting?
Hans Holbein the Younger painted Sir Thomas More in 1527. The Frick Collection identifies the work as oil on oak panel, measuring 74.9 × 60.3 cm, with accession number 1912.1.77. [1]
The Morgan’s account places the portrait shortly before More became lord chancellor and describes its gold livery chain as a sign of his service to the king. [2] Start with that chain, then move up to the face. The broad gold links are easy to follow across the fur collar. The small pale marks around the mouth demand a slower look. Those differences in scale give us two ways into the painting: the chain’s conspicuous gold shapes and the close attention paid to a particular face.
What does the chain mean?
The Morgan interprets the gold livery chain as a symbol of More’s service to the king. [2]
The Morgan identifies the rose at the centre of the chain as a Tudor rose. [2] It suggests that the S-shaped links might refer to the motto Souvent me souvient, translated there as “Think of me often”. [2]
Follow the chain in the detail image. Each S has a dark centre and a brighter edge. Right of centre, above the rose, two lattice-shaped elements interrupt the repeated letters. Below them, the rose hangs against the fur. These changes let your eye find its way along the chain without treating it as one continuous stripe of gold.
Detail: chain. Open larger detailOpen whole image
The chain’s royal meaning comes from the museum’s interpretation. The impression of weight comes from looking: the links curve down across the collar, and the pendant occupies the lowest point. We can describe how Holbein makes the object visible without claiming that every shape has a meaning we can prove.
Look closely at the face
The eyes point towards the right of the image. The lips are closed, with a thin dark line between them. Small pale strokes surround the mouth and continue beneath the chin. Under the jaw, the shadow deepens towards the fur collar.
Try looking at the face before looking at the cap. The skin has many small variations; the black cap forms a much larger dark shape above it. Then use “View whole painting” below to compare the cap against the green curtain. Against the green curtain, the cap makes a clear boundary around the head, while the face keeps your attention through smaller changes.
Detail: face. Open larger detailOpen whole image
It is tempting to turn that closed mouth into a verdict about More’s character. The visible expression alone cannot tell us what he was thinking. A more useful question is how the portrait makes us attend to him. The eyes give us a direction to follow, but they do not meet our gaze. The face remains close enough to examine while looking elsewhere.
Hands, paper and sleeves
At the bottom of the painting, the hands overlap around a folded piece of pale paper. One hand bears a ring with a dark oval centre. The paper’s contents are not legible in this reproduction, and its identity should remain open.
Detail: hands. Open larger detailOpen whole image
The fingers bend and cross; the pale paper creates a small angular shape between them. Use “View whole painting” in the hands figure to compare the red sleeves at either side with the broader dark clothing above the hands. You do not need to identify a pigment to notice how differently those surfaces are painted.
The Morgan describes the red sleeves as velvet and the coat’s trim as fur. [2] Those descriptions help us name the materials represented. They do not establish what paints Holbein used to represent them.
What links the drawing to the painting?
The Royal Collection holds a drawing of More, RCIN 912268, which it identifies as a study for the Frick portrait. Its account says the contours were pricked with a pin so the design could be transferred to another sheet. [3] This introduces a practical question behind the finished face: how could a drawn outline be carried from one surface to another?
Royal Collection · RCIN 912268. [3] Open drawing image
Frick Collection · 1912.1.77. [1] Open painting image
Drawing reproduction: Wikimedia Commons / Google Art Project, supplied by Royal Collection Trust, © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2012. Commons records the image under PD-Art / PD-old-100-expired. Painting reproduction: Commons / Google Art Project.
The images are not shown to scale. Compare these four things, using the larger views for details:
- Compare the cap’s shape relative to the head and the surrounding sheet or panel, then the direction of the face.
- Open the drawing larger to find the line of writing at its upper left. No line of writing is visible in that same position in the painting.
- Follow the fur collar downwards. In the drawing, the shoulders dissolve into loose marks; the painting’s costume continues down to the overlapping hands.
- Find the hands and gold chain in the painting. Neither appears in this drawing.
What the sources establish
- The surviving drawing, Royal Collection, RCIN 912268: the museum identifies this sheet as a study for the Frick portrait. Its account says the pricked contours allowed the design to be transferred to another sheet. [3]
- A possible intermediate pattern, Foister’s suggestion: Susan Foister’s Holbein in England, entry 24, suggests that Holbein may have made a pattern from the drawing, adjusted slightly before transfer to the panel. [5]
- The outlines under the painting, Foister’s technical account: she describes outlines transferred from a pricked cartoon. The dotted outlines do not precisely match the holes in the surviving drawing. [5]
Cartoon is a general term for a full-size preparatory drawing; underdrawing means the preliminary outlines guiding the application of paint. [6] [7] Here, “surviving drawing” names the Royal Collection sheet, “possible pattern” names Foister’s suggested intermediate, and “underdrawing” names the guide beneath the painting.
For the pricked contours, read the Royal Collection’s account; for the proposed pattern and the painting’s dotted outlines, consult Foister’s entry 24. [5]
Drawing, portrait or later version?
The National Portrait Gallery holds another painting of More. NPG 4358 is catalogued as after Holbein: oil on panel, early seventeenth century, based on a work of 1527. [4] The gallery says its materials and handling suggest it may have been painted in Italy or Austria. [4]
Frick Collection · 1912.1.77. [1] Reproduction via Wikimedia Commons / Google Art Project. Open larger view of Holbein’s painting
National Portrait Gallery · NPG 4358. [4] Image © National Portrait Gallery, London. Via Wikimedia Commons, recorded there as PD-Art / PD-old-100-expired. Open later painting image
The images are not shown to scale. Compare the dark clothing beneath the fur collar, then the cuffs and folded paper between the hands. Use the larger views to examine how these details are rendered in each image.
| Object | Identity | What its record helps us check |
|---|---|---|
| The painted portrait | Frick Collection, 1912.1.77. [1] | The Frick panel’s dimensions and material. |
| The drawing | Royal Collection, RCIN 912268. [3] | The chalk study and the account of its pricked contours. |
| The later painting | National Portrait Gallery, NPG 4358. [4] | A version catalogued after Holbein, made in the early seventeenth century. |
A familiar face is insufficient to identify a particular object. Check the collection and object number before carrying a material, date or technique from one record to another.
Compare the collection and object number in each Identity cell. Then use the final column to choose the record for the original panel’s material, the drawing’s technique or the later painting’s date. To check the later painting’s attribution and date, open the National Portrait Gallery record. [4]
Common questions
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Where is Holbein’s Sir Thomas More?
The painting discussed here belongs to the Frick Collection, accession 1912.1.77. [1]
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Is the drawing a study for this painting?
This painting is available as a print. View the print →
