NETHERLANDISH SCHOOL, CIRCA 1510

The artist of the present portrait is engaging with the tradition of Netherlandish portraiture that can be seen going back to models such as Rogier van der Weyden's circa 1460 depiction of Philippe de Croÿ I (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp). Where this latter was painted as part of a diptych in which de Croÿ is praying to the Virgin and Child, the fact that the present sitter is shown on the heraldic right indicates that he was possibly once part of a marital diptych, likely coupled with a portrait of his wife at prayer.