The painting forms a pair with a portrait of a woman, probably this sitter's wife, also in the Hermitage. Both are the work of Christoph Amberger, a Swabian painter who worked mainly in Augsburg. In this modest composition we see a rather complex characterisation of the sitter, whose image is softly delicate. Amberger owed much to Venetian painting - he was indeed the fitting choice as assistant to Titian when the latter was invited to Augsburg in 1548 to work at the court of Charles V - and hence the freedom of painting style, the interest in nuances of colour, in soft light and shade. Despite the fact that the Hermitage paired portraits are not the artist's most stunning works, they are still evidence of his ability to see beyond the sitter's purely external appearance to the soul. Amberger's clients included the Emperor Charles V, Ludwig of Bavaria and the rich Fugger family of merchants, and his portraits were typical of German art of the mid-16th century.