Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, the so-called grammar school portrait

The most common image of Nicolaus Copernicus, the so-called high school portrait. It holds a special place in Copernican iconography.
The portrait depicts Nicolaus Copernicus, an astronomer from Toruń, aged around 35–40. The scholar is shown as a figure with expressive features and long, dark and wavy hair. The positioning of the eyes is characteristic, with the left one lower than the right one, which nevertheless indicates certain shortcomings in the painter's workshop. The scholar is dressed in a black cassock with a visible white shirt hem and a red sleeveless jacket, lined with white fur at the collar and shoulders. The background of the portrait is ash-gray with a warm shade.
After World War II, the work was the subject of in-depth analyses of its technical structure. The painting was examined by four Polish conservators: Prof. Bohdan Marconi, Doc. Leonard Torwirt, Prof. Zbigniew Brochwicz and Prof. Józef Flik. Marconi, the painting’s conservator from 1946 to 1948, dated its creation to the mid-16th century – around 1540–1560.