St. Thomas More – Catholic Art – Archival Quality

St. Thomas More
by Hans Holbein the Younger

Because the English statesman Thomas More (1478-1535) lived by Christian principles and let himself be be martyred rather than betray those principles, he was declared by St. John Paul II a patron Saint for politicians and statesmen.

More was the Lord High Chancellor of England when King Henry VIII declared that the Catholic Church in England, and all its possessions, belonged to him, and that he was its supreme earthly authority.

As the monasteries were stripped of their possessions and given to Henry, the bishops who disagreed with him were to be killed. There was only one who openly disagreed, St. John Fischer. The rest of the English Bishops chose to save their skins. Fischer, along with More, went to their graves rather than break from the Church and serve Henry's lie of Supremacy.

More is reported to have said, just before his execution, "I die the King's good servant, and God's first".

Henry would go on to kill two wives because they did not bear him sons. England would have a century of bloody religious conflict that followed because of the split Henry created.

This painting was done in 1527 by Hans Holbein the Younger, one of Europe's great portrait artists. This is what Thomas More actually looked like!

We have edited the image and taken out the white spots where the paint has flaked off. The white spots around his chin are painterly touches of gray in his beard!

We can also offer this picture as a black and white photo, shown above, elsewhere in our shop.

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a white border of about 0.5" inch for 5x7", 1.3" for 8.5x11", or 1.6" for 11x14" pictures. All Approx! Fine art printers do this because the images are almost never the same rectangular ratio of the standard paper sizes. It also gives the prints a finished look, and lets them look good in a frame without a matt.

- Acid-free fine art paper.
- Archival pigments, rated to last for generations.
- Cardboard backer
- Above story of the art
- Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag.

Thanks for your interest!
Sue & John

"In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art." ~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson - Classic Catholic Art.