This portrait of Sir Thomas More (or Saint Thomas More) was painted by Hans Holbein the Younger.  Thomas More (lived 1478-1535) was a leading humanist philosopher and writer of the European Renaissance.  In 1516, he published Utopia.  He served as Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII of England for three years until Henry ordered his execution at Tower Hill, London.

Englishman Sir Thomas More (now recognized as Saint Thomas More in both the Catholic and Anglican churches) was charged with treason and beheaded because he refused to accept the Act of Supremacy which made Henry VIII head of the Church of England. Click here to view other images in our picture gallery on the House of Tudor. Click here to enlarge this image.