Philippe de Montmorency

Philippe de Montmorency, Count of Hoorne, appears twice in Antonis Mor's oeuvre — this Rijksmuseum panel from 1562 and the later pendant portrait held in the Dienst Verspreide Rijkscollecties. As one of the most prominent Flemish noblemen and a member of the Council of State under Philip II, Montmorency was a major political figure in the years that would culminate in his execution by the Duke of Alba in 1568. The 1562 portrait captures him in what proved to be the final years of political stability before the crisis of the Netherlands engulfed his life. Painted on panel, the work demonstrates Mor at the height of his powers, combining formal authority with a sense of contained energy.

The panel is prepared with characteristic care, its surface receiving Mor's thin, layered oil technique. The combination of armour and civilian dress — partially armoured, with rich textile for the lower portion — required differentiation of metallic and fabric surface textures within a single figure. The face is handled with warm, controlled flesh passages over a cool grey-brown ground.