Giuliano de' Medici (1479–1516), Duke of Nemours

The sitter is depicted with a dark beard and a thoughtful expression, dressed in a red tunic beneath a heavy dark robe with fur trim. A green curtain serves as the backdrop, pulled aside on the right to reveal a distant view of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. In his hands, he holds a folded slip of paper, a common motif in Renaissance portraiture suggesting his role in statecraft or correspondence.

Giuliano was the youngest son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and a central figure in the Medici circle that fostered Neoplatonism and the humanist revival. He was a significant patron of the arts, notably protecting Leonardo da Vinci during his final years in Rome.