Christian II’s consort, Elizabeth, was a princess of the House of Habsburg, which ruled over parts of the Netherlands. During the Danish king’s visit there in 1521, and his exile from 1523, several very high-quality portraits were painted, including this one. The artist has not been identified, but clearly worked from images by Quentin Metsys and Joos van Cleve, which show Christian II in the same costume. The car- nation in the king’s hand also appears in Metsys’ portrait.