Eitel Friedrich II of Hohenzollern by Hans Schäufelin

Hans Leonhard Schäufelein's Portrait of Eitel Friedrich II of Hohenzollern documents this Nuremberg-trained painter's service to the southern German nobility. Schäufelein was a significant Nuremberg painter who worked in Dürer's circle before establishing himself in Nördlingen, producing both altarpieces and portraits for the Swabian and Bavarian nobility. Count Eitel Friedrich II of Hohenzollern, a member of the dynasty that would later produce the Prussian kings, is presented with the formal dignity appropriate to comital rank, the heraldic dress and composed bearing conveying the authority of ancient noble lineage.

The painting demonstrates the technical conventions and artistic vocabulary of the period, with attention to composition, color, and the rendering of form appropriate to the subject.