Knight of the Order of Malta, Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem

Knight of the Order of Malta from 1534 by Hans Baldung Grien depicts a member of the Hospitallers, the military religious order that defended Christendom's eastern frontiers. The knight's portrait combines military bearing with religious dedication. The Hospitallers were particularly prominent in the German cultural sphere, and Baldung's portrait of this knight serves as a document of the order's continued significance after the fall of Rhodes in 1522.

The knight is rendered with attention to the Order's distinctive insignia and the martial bearing appropriate to a member of this military-religious brotherhood.