Vittore Carpaccio: Young Knight in a Landscape (1510)

(Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid, Spain)

This painting is one of the earliest full-length portraits in Europe. The identity of the main person is probably Francesco Maria della Rovere, 3rd Duke of Urbino and nephew of pope Julius II. The painting contains several small details like the  white ermine with the paper above it with the text 'Malo mori quam foedari' (better to die than be defiled). This suggests that the the person on this painting was a knight of the Order of the Ermine. The two birds in the sky are a heron being caught in the sky by a hawk. This suggests that the person may have died in battle, maing this a funerary portrait. Painting from 1510.