Portrait of Francisco de los Cobos y Molina

The sitter is Francisco de los Cobos y Molina, the powerful secretary and chief financial adviser to Emperor Charles V; his identity rests on two emblems of the chivalric Order of Santiago that he wears — the red cross on his doublet and the scallop-shell jewel. Jan Gossaert, who travelled among the courts of Europe as painter to several princely households, was one of the first Netherlandish artists to absorb the forms of the Italian Renaissance and carry them north, and his portraits set close psychological observation against a meticulous rendering of surfaces and stuffs. This small oak panel, 43.8 × 33.7 cm, is held by the J. Paul Getty Museum.