BEHAM, Barthel
(b. 1502, Nürnberg, d. 1540, Italy)

Portrait of Ludwig X, Duke of Bavaria

1535
Oil on limewood panel, 40 x 33 cm
Private collection

This vivid likeness inscribed with the date 1535 portrays Duke Ludwig X of Bavaria (1495-1545), whom Beham depicted in a number of portraits, both painted and engraved, when he worked in Munich as court painter.

Here Beham shows the duke at the age of forty. He wears a black robe with a wide fur collar over a pleated white shirt. Fur and hair are rendered with meticulous precision and the image overall has a strong three-dimensional quality that conveys a strong sense of physical realism.