Portrait of Caspar von Köckeritz

When the Louvre bought this panel in 1893, it was catalogued simply as a portrait of a man. The clue to his name was on his left hand. The ring he wears carries the arms of the Köckeritz family, Saxon nobles from around Meissen, with his initials above them, and that identifies him as Caspar von Köckeritz, a nobleman close to Martin Luther.

The museum thinks the picture was probably painted in 1530, the year Luther dedicated to him a German version of Psalm 111. Caspar was about 30. In his hands he holds a rosary. At that moment the beads could still stand for his own personal devotion, though the reformers would later ban them outright. He lived until 1567 and died in Wittenberg.