Hans Eworth was a Flemish painter, along with goldsmith and jeweler, who painted many portraits of the gentry and nobility in Tudor England. He was born about 1520 and died in 1574. He trained in Antwerp. In 1540, he became a master freeman in the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp. By 1545, he was in London, England. (National Gallery of Canada) He was influenced by the work of Hans Holbein the Younger, who had been a court painter to Henry VIII. "Eworth’s experimentation with pose and scale are attributed to the variation in pose found in Holbein’s works. The poses, range from miniatures to life-size portraits and from bust-length to full-length." (National Gallery of Canada)
Depending on which website you read, about 26 portraits up to 40 portraits are attributed to Eworth. According to Hope Walker, there may be upwards of 56 portraits attributed to him. He was the principal court portrait painter during the reign of Mary I, from 1553 to 1558. During this time, most of his commissions were from Catholic patrons. Therefore, during the reign of Elizabeth I (a Protestant), he fell out of favor with the court because of the previous association. From 1572 until his death in 1574, he was employed by the Office of Revels to design costumes and decor for Elizabeth I's receptions and pageants. (National Galleries Scotland)
In no particular order, here are the few portraits that I have found so far of Eworth's that have blackwork embroidery in them.
Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu (National Portrait Gallery)
Mary Neville, Lady Dacre (National Gallery of Canada)
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (Wikipedia)
James Stewart was the illegitimate half-brother to Mary, Queen of Scots.
The blackwork embroidery pattern from Stewart's collar is one that I found years ago (in the days of Geocities) while doing research. (Partlet with Embroidery on the Collar)
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