Follower of Anthonis Mor

The identification of this sitter as Alessandro Farnese has not been widely accepted. Rather this work depicts a Spanish gentleman of high rank and follows the tradition of courtly portraiture popularised by Anthonis Mor (c. 1517–1577) and his collaborator Alonso Sánchez Coello (c.1531–1588) at the court of Philip II of Spain (1527–1598). 

Following the models of Mor and Coello, the sitter stands against a dark neutral backdrop so that nothing detracts from his appearance. He wears a black slashed leather doublet over a rich crimson shirt with gold embroidery and matching black hose and stockings. He rests his hand on the pommel of his sword, a pose reminiscent of that adopted by Philip II of Spain in the portrait executed by Anthonis Mor in 1557 (El Escorial, San Lorenzo de El Escorial).¹ Like the latter, he too carries a richly ornamented main gauche dagger, typical of courtly fashion in the mid-16th century. He stands next to a table covered with a dark table cloth with gold trimmings and toggles, comparable to the ones depicted in 1560 by Mor, and later replicated by Coello, in his portrait of Elisabeth of Valois (Várez Fisa Collection, Madrid).² The sitter's meticulously rendered attire and the work's similarities with other courtly portraits of the period suggest a dating of this work to the 1560s. 

An attribution to the elusive Jooris van der Straaten (known in Spain as Jorge de la Rúa, active circa 1552–1578) has been suggested by Maria Kusche, however too few extant works by the artist are known to allow a classification of his style and to be able to endorse this attribution with certainty.³ His only signed work is a portrait of Elisabeth of Austria Queen of France (1554–1592) dated 1573, in the convent of Las Descalzas Reales, Madrid.⁴

¹ Oil on canvas; 186 x 82 cm; https://www.wga.hu/html_m/m/mor/42philip.html

² Oil on panel; 104.5 x 84 cm; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elisabeth_de_Valois,_Anthonis_Mor.jpg

³ Kusche 2003, p. 159.

⁴ Oil on canvas; 181 x 125 cm.; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elisabeth_of_Austria_Queen_of_France_by_Jooris_van_der_Straaten_-_1570s_.jpg

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