Grand-duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany (1610-1670) in Armour

Executed in oil on canvas, the painting displays the early Baroque attention to texture and chiaroscuro. Sustermans renders the metallic sheen of the armor with fine brushwork, while the blue‑gold striped doublet and white lace collar are depicted in luminous detail. The dark backdrop and column create depth, guiding the viewer’s eye toward the figure’s face.

Created around the early 17th century, the portrait was produced while Sustermans served as court painter to the Medici. It entered the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it remains part of the museum’s holdings of Baroque portraiture, documenting the Medici’s patronage of Flemish artists.

Sustermans, a Flemish artist active in Italy, specialized in portraiture for aristocratic patrons. His tenure with the Medici court yielded numerous depictions of the family, situating this painting within a broader program of dynastic representation that reinforced the political image of Tuscany’s ruling house during the early Baroque era.