Antonio Moro Circle

Circle of ANTONIO MORO (Utrecht, between 1516 and 1520 - Antwerp?, 1575/1576).
"Duke of Alba", late 16th century.
Oil on panel.
Period frame.
Presents faults and restorations.
Measurements: 30.5 x 21.5 cm; 55.5 x 49.5 cm (frame).

Portrait of the Duke of Alba resolved with meticulous brushstroke and rigorous stroke, along with an excellent light treatment, appreciating the heritage of the painter of chamber Antonio Moro. Chamber painter to Charles I and Philip II, Moro's language determined the development of court portraiture in Renaissance Spain. The influence of Titian can be seen in this type of portrait. It is possible to compare this portrait with the portrait of the same character painted by Willem Key (attributed to Moro by Friedländer), as well as the one painted by Sánchez Coello, following Moro's models. In the portrait in question, the Titianesque model does not go unnoticed (Titian's is preserved in the collection of the House of Alba). Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, III Duke of Alba de Tormes (1507-Lisbon, 1582) was a military man and diplomat, governor of the Netherlands, Milan, viceroy of Naples and constable of Portugal.
Antonio Moro worked in the Southern Netherlands and also in Spain, Italy, Portugal and England. He trained in his native Utrecht as a disciple of Jan van Scorel, whose assistant he became in 1540. According to Karel van Mander, Moro traveled to Italy during his youth, and there he was able to spend three years before returning to Utrecht in 1544. In 1547 he was admitted as a master in the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp, although he preferred to reside in his hometown. The following year he attracted the attention of his first important patron, Antonio Perrenot de Granvela, bishop of Arras and member of the court of Charles V. His portraits made between 1549 and 1550 already reveal an innovative style that would replace the oldest portrait traditions, combining Flemish precision with Italian models. Particularly important in his language would be the influence of Titian, which he brought to him through the works of the Venetian that existed in the collections of Granvela and Maria of Hungary, regent of the Netherlands. Moro's mature style will be characterized by the steely precision of Nordic heritage, the muted colors, the detail in the fabrics, folds and qualities, a simplified lighting generally on the left side and a neutral background that enhances the monumental isolation of the figure, which is usually three-quarter or full-length and fills the entire height of the pictorial plane. His career experienced the definitive impulse when he was presented by Granvela to Philip II; since then Moro will work the royal and courtly portrait in the Dutch and Spanish courts, so that his style will exert an important influence throughout Europe and, above all, in the Iberian Peninsula, where he had numerous disciples and followers. Among them were Alonso Sánchez Coello, Jorge de la Rúa, Manuel Denis, Cristóbal de Morales and Sofonisba Anguissola. In 1550 he was sent by Maria of Hungary to Lisbon to paint the Portuguese royal family, and especially Maria of Portugal, the fiancée of Philip II. On the way he painted his first official portrait of Emperor Maximilian II, probably in Augsburg. Probably from there he continued his journey in the retinue of Philip II, who was then in the Netherlands. He arrived in Spain in 1551, and there he painted Philip II's sister and her first daughter, Maria of Austria, with her husband Maximilian II. The following year he worked at the Lisbon court, and finally in 1553 he returned to Brussels only to go to London, where he was sent to portray Philip II's wife after the wedding. That same year of 1554 he was officially appointed painter to Philip II and moved to the court of Brussels, where he remained until 1559.