Portrait of a young man

Baldung employs chiaroscuro, lighting the face from one side to accentuate the contours of the features. The background is a uniform green field, punctuated only by a thin line of Latin inscription at the top, focusing attention on the sitter.

The work has been part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s collection for many years, though its earlier ownership history is not extensively documented. Baldung’s career spanned painting, printmaking, and stained glass, and this portrait exemplifies his portraiture within that broader oeuvre.

Produced during a period when German artists were integrating Italianate Mannerist elements into the established Northern Renaissance idiom, the painting reflects the cross‑currents of stylistic experimentation that characterized early 16th‑century art in the Holy Roman Empire.