Portrait of a Young Man

From 1519 to 1521 Mostaert was a court painter to the Regent of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria. But this portrait was probably painted when Mostaert returned to Haarlem, where there was a guild devoted to St. Hubert. A scene from the life of St. Hubert appears behind the sitter in this portrait. While out hunting on Good Friday, the pleasure-loving Hubert saw a stag with a vision of the crucifix between its antlers. He renounced his worldly way of life, turned to Christianity, became a bishop, then a saint. The scene is perhaps included here because the young man belonged to a guild dedicated to the saint.