| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation examines the life of Antonio Moro, 1519-1576, the artist from Utrecht who became the royal court painter of both Emperor Charles V and Philip II of Spain. Moro's artistic career spanned the late Renaissance and early Baroque era in Western Europe. The artist was the student of Jan Scorel of Utrecht. He became a member of the guild of St. Luke in Antwerp in 1547, painting and teaching in Brussels while working with his students Sanchez Coello, Hans Maes, and Conrad Schot. His work influenced such later artists as Adrian Key, Frans Pourbus, and Frans Floris. Holding a strong international reputation, Antonio Moro was intimately connected with the ruling aristocracy of Western Europe. Early in life he was on familiar terms with Mary of Hungary, regent of the Netherlands. He painted King John III and Queen Catherine of Portugal as well as their daughter, Maria. When he returned to the Netherlands, Charles V, Philip II and William of Orange became his sitters. In England he painted portraits of Queen Mary Tudor, Simon Renard, and many members of the nobility. In Iberia Juana of Portugal, Don Carlos, King Sebastian, and Maximilian of Austria had their portraits painted by Moro. Of equal importance are his portraits of the bourgeoisie of the Netherlands, The goldsmith Steven van Herwyck, Moro's wife Metgen, and Jean Lecocq and his wife are records of historical value during one of the most revolutionary periods in European history. Antonio Moro's portraits are among the greatest treasures of the Louvre, Uffizi, Prado and other outstanding museums and galleries in the Western world. Moro distinguished himself when painting first divided into genres by specializing in portraiture. As the one Flemish artist of the Hapsburg and Spanish monarchs achieving international and European standing, he laid the basis for the development of the northern Dutch portrait schools and established the tradition of Spanish court portraiture down to the age of Velazquez. He is known today, also, as the originator of purely secular painting in the history of Spanish art. The Spanish court portrait was the creation of Antonio Moro. His career established him as the most respected portrait painter in Europe. Although courted by both bourgeoisie and nobility, he is best known and remembered as royal court painter of Philip II of Spain. | |
