The subject of François Clouet’s painting is the son of one of the great noble families of France. He wears a dark velvet suit with embroidery that resembles gold chains and a cap with a short ostrich feather. Typical of French court portraits of the mid-sixteenth century, the subject's facial features are precisely recorded with exactitude and without flattery and he seems withdrawn into a world of his own thoughts. François Clouet was the son of Jean Clouet, the most famous painter in France during the first half of the sixteenth century. François succeeded his father as court painter to François I and, after the king's death, continued to hold the position under the three kings who followed.