Christian (1599–1626), Duke of Brunswick

Christian (1599–1626), Duke of Brunswick — known as the "Mad Duke" or "Christian the Younger" — was a Protestant military commander in the Thirty Years' War, famous for his brutal campaigns in Lower Saxony and his alliance with Protestant forces. Attributed to van Mierevelt and now at the Walker Art Gallery, this portrait documents a figure whose military adventures and early death at 27 made him a Protestant martyr-hero in the propaganda of the era. Van Mierevelt painted many of the Protestant military commanders who passed through The Hague during the Thirty Years' War, creating a visual gallery of the conflict's key figures. The Walker Art Gallery's holding of this portrait alongside the Cecil portrait gives Liverpool one of the strongest provincial British holdings of van Mierevelt's diplomatic and military portraiture.

A military commander's portrait in this period would prominently feature armour, and van Mierevelt's handling of polished steel — cool grey base tones with sharp impasto highlights — would be central to the work's technical ambition. The Duke of Brunswick's relative youth (he died at 27) means the face would require the smooth, relatively unlined modelling of a young adult rather than the more complex surfaces of van Mierevelt's older sitters. Panel support indicates a carefully executed work.