Portrait of a Banker

Jean Clouet created this portrait around 1522, contributing to the flourishing tradition of portraiture during the High Renaissance period that documented appearance and social standing across European society. The painting is in the Saint Louis Art Museum. High Renaissance portraiture codified conventions — the three-quarter turn, neutral background or landscape, precise attention to dress and ornament — that signaled status and humanist cultivation for the sitter and their family.

The portrait follows established conventions of the period, with attention to physiognomic features and costume details that convey social identity and status.