(Utrecht 1516/20–1576? Antwerp)
Portrait of Philip II of Spain,
oil on canvas, 185 x 102 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Mantua;
European private collection

Literature: F. Klauner, Spanische Porträts des 16. Jahrhunderts, in: Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, 5 July 1961, pp. 123–58, p. 134, fig. 160 (as in the manner of Anthonis Mor);
Katalog der Gemäldegalerie. Porträtgalerie zur Geschichte Österreichs von 1400–1800, ed. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, 1982, p. 69.

The present painting is related to another version in The Escorial in Madrid and shows Philip II after his victory in the Battle of Saint Quentin. On August 10th 1557, the Spanish troops emerged successful thanks to English support and celebrated their decisive victory in the conflict between the Habsburg Empire and the French. Their success in the battle, which was won on the very day dedicated to Saint Lawrence, also gave rise to the foundation of the monastery San Lorenzo de El Escorial, which subsequently served as a burial place for the Spanish monarchs. Although Philip himself did not partake in the battle, the victory was staged as the king’s triumph in the present portrait by Anthonis Mor. Philip is thus depicted as general of the light cavalry (guintes). Dressed in a breast harness and chain mail, he wears a brassard around the upper arm. In his right hand he carries the field marshal’s staff, while his left hand rests on the hilt of his sword. Philip wears to so-called Armadura con las cruzes de Borgona, which is now in the Armeria Real in Madrid.

Mor conceived the prototype for the present painting (El Escorial) and the portrait served as a model for Philip II in the series of engravings entitled Imagines Domus Austriacae by Francesco Terzio. Philip’s portrait enjoyed great popularity and was repeated, among other artists, by Alonso Sanchez Coello, one of Mor’s students (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). A further version is housed in the Staatliche Sammlungen Berlin, and a slightly modified variant is preserved in the National Portrait Gallery in London. According to Klausner (see literature), the present portrait is a version that is ‘particularly satisfactory’ in terms of style and which, in her opinion, is closest to that in the Escorial.

Anthonis Mor was first trained by Jan Scorel in Utrecht and seems to have travelled to Italy at an early date. By 1547 he had been admitted to the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp, and according to documentation, worked for Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, the Bishop of Arras, in 1549. The latter brought Mor into contact with the House of Habsburg, whose popular court painter he became, specializing in full-length portraits. In 1550 he travelled to Portugal in order to portray members of the royal family, and from 1552 on worked for Philip II in Madrid, but regularly returned to Brussels.

Philip II, called “The Wise”, was born in Valladolid in 1527 as son of Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal. When his father abdicated in 1556, he became King of Spain. His reign marked the beginning of the ‘Golden Age’ of Spanish culture; he was a great defender of Catholicism, and thanks to four politically motivated marriages, he was able to add, among other lands, Portugal to his empire. Philip died in the Escorial in 1598.