Portrait of Prince Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark (1622–1656)

This mid-17th-century Dutch School portrait depicts the young Prince Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark (1622–1656), eldest son of King Christian IV of Denmark and Kirsten Munk. The sitter is shown in three-quarter view, wearing richly decorated ceremonial armour with elaborate etched gilt detailing, a broad lace collar, and a blue sash across his chest. The solemnity of the pose and careful rendering of fabric and metalwork reflect the influence of court portraiture in the Northern tradition, recalling the work of artists associated with Gerrit van Honthorst and the circle of Dutch and Flemish painters active at the courts of Denmark and the German principalities in the 1630s and 1640s.
Valdemar Christian was an important figure within Danish royal politics. Groomed for high dynastic alliances, he was betrothed at one stage to Tsarevna Irina Mikhailovna of Russia, daughter of Tsar Mikhail I.His marriage, however, was thwarted by political tensions. Instead, he pursued a military career, fighting in Poland, where he died in 1656 at the age of only 33.