St. John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr – Catholic Art – Archival Quality

This is what St. John Fisher actually looked like. The drawing is by Hans Holbein the Younter, the premier portrait artist of Europe in the 16th Century. All the paintings you see of Fisher are based on this sketch, and as well on the bust sculpture done by Pietro Torrigiano. Both were done by men who were looking at Fisher. The two, sketch and bust, look more like each other than the numerous painted copies that followed. We wanted to present you with the most reliably lifelike appearance of the Saint available. St. John Fisher's story, as you may know, was that he alone of all the bishops of England would not agree that Henry VIII was the supreme Earthly ruler of the Church in England. All the other bishops, in confraternity, elected to save their own skins and their jobs and went along with Henry. Fisher was made a cardinal by the pope shortly before his death. The red that cardinals wear is a symbol of their willingness to follow the way of Christ to the passion and death, and St.