Albrecht V (‘the Magnanimous’) was a great patron of the arts, like his parents before him, Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria and Maria Jacobaea of Baden (see inv. no. 17, 18), who had commissioned Albrecht Altdorfer’s famous panel ‘Battle of Alexander’ (see inv. no. 688). During his reign, Munich became a centre of art and learning. Albrecht V was also a supporter of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the Jesuits. The portrait shows him as a seventeen-year-old heir apparent, five years before assuming the reins of power, and may have been painted to commemorate his engagement to Archduchess Anna, daughter of King and future Emperor Ferdinand I.