Portrait of Heinrich V (1479-1552), Duke of Mecklenburg

In February 1507 Heinrich V, one of the ruling dukes of Mecklenburg on the Baltic coast, married Ursula of Brandenburg, daughter of an Elector. The same year he sat for this portrait. The Latin lines in the upper corner give his name, call him the son of Magnus, and record that he was 28 in 1507.

He dressed for the occasion. The hat is loaded with ostrich feathers, strings of pearls and gold cords threaded through rings, the height of fashion among German nobles of the day. His black cloak is patterned with pale battleaxes and tree trunks, and a small axe hangs from the chain at his throat. All this for a man history remembers as Heinrich the Peaceful.

In 1940 the panel passed through the Amsterdam art firm of Jacques Goudstikker, taken over that year by the German banker Alois Miedl. It went to Berlin, was assigned to the museum Hitler planned for Linz, and returned to the Netherlands after the war. It has hung in the Mauritshuis since 1951.