Sebastian, King of Portugal

Cock employed the engraving process, incising lines directly into a metal plate with a burin. The resulting fine hatching creates tonal variation and precise detail, characteristic of mid‑sixteenth‑century Northern European portraiture. The composition follows a conventional courtly format, emphasizing the sitter’s status through elaborate dress and emblematic objects.

Hieronymus Cock, also a prominent publisher, used his own press to issue the print as part of a prolific output that exceeded a thousand titles during his career. The engraving circulated among collectors and courts, contributing to the visual dissemination of Sebastian’s image before his ill‑fated expedition to Morocco.