[2] 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.

[citation needed] 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.

[citation needed] In the middle of 1550 Mor left for Lisbon with a commission from Mary of Hungary to portray the Portuguese branch of the family.

In Lisbon, Mor portrayed King John III, Queen Catharine, Prince João Manuel and Philip II's future wife, Princess Maria of Portugal.

The engagement between Philip and his Portuguese princess was broken and negotiations started for a marriage with the successor to the English throne, Mary Tudor.

This portrait was much appreciated in England and Mor made at least three versions, which became much the best-known likeness of the queen (Prado, Marquess of Northampton).

During the ceremonies and festivities surrounding the coronation of his son Philip as king of Spain, Mor would have received many commissions for paintings.

Following the death of Mary Tudor in 1558, King Philip was remarried in June 1559 to Isabella de Valois, whom Mor portrayed ca.

[4] Mor's pupil Alonso Sánchez Coello continued to work in his master's style, and replaced him as the Spanish court painter.

[citation needed] On his return to the Netherlands, Mor probably traveled back and forth between Utrecht, Antwerp and Brussels.

When Granvelle returned to France and the Netherlands showed increasing social and political unrest, Mor experienced some financial hardship.

Toward the end of his life, Mor focused on history paintings of religious and mythological subjects, but in this field of work he would never equal his earlier success as a portrait painter.