Anthonis Mor, also known as Anthonis Mor van Dashorst and Antonio Moro (c. 1517 – 1577), was a Netherlandish portrait painter, much in demand by the courts of Europe. He has also been referred to as Antoon, Anthonius, Anthonis or Mor van Dashorst, and as Antonio Moro, António Mouro, Anthony More, etc., but signed most of his portraits as Anthonis Mor. Mor developed a formal style for court portraits, largely based on Titian, that was extremely influential on court painters across Europe, especially in the Iberian Peninsula, where it created a tradition that led to Diego Velázquez. It can include considerable psychological penetration, especially in portraits of men, but always gives the subject a grand and self-possessed air. Early life and education Mor was born in Utrecht, Netherlands, by some estimation between 1516 and 1520. Little is known about his early life, except that his artistic education commenced under Jan van Scorel. His earliest known work is a portrait which is now in a collection in Stockholm, dated 1538. Painting career A group of Knights of St. John at Utrecht, supposed to have been painted about 1541; and a picture of two pilgrims at the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, dated 1544; and the portrait of an unknown woman, in the Lille gallery, were probably among his earliest works. Their authenticity has not been established. Antwerp In 1547 Mor was received as a member of the Venerable Guild of St. Luke at Antwerp, and shortly afterwards (about 1548) he attracted the attention of Cardinal Granvelle, Bishop of Arras, who became his steady patron. Of the portraits executed during the early period of his career as Granvelle's protege, two are especially notable: one of the bishop himself (in the imperial gallery in Vienna), and one of the Duke of Alba, which now belongs to the Hispanic Society of New York. Between 1549 and 1550 Prince Philip II of Spain (1527–1598) traveled around the Netherlands to present himself as the future ruler. Mor painted his portrait in Brussels in 1549. He probably visited Italy (when exactly is not known), where he copied some works by Titian, notably the Danaë. Portugal In the middle of 1550 Mor left for Lisbon with a commission from Mary of Hungary to portray the Portuguese branch of the family. Mor probably traveled via Valladolid, where he painted the portraits of Maximilian II and his wife Maria of Austria, their daughter