Portrait of a Man with a Falcon

This painting by Petrus Christus silverpoint drawing around 1447, showing a man holding a falcon. The delicate medium required great skill: unlike pen or brush, silverpoint marks could not be erased or corrected. Every line had to be placed with precision.

Falconry was a nobleman's pursuit in medieval Europe, and the bird identifies the sitter as a man of high social standing. Christus captured both the human face and the raptor with the close observation characteristic of Early Netherlandish art. The small format (18.9 x 14.3 cm) suggests this was a finished work rather than a preparatory study.

The drawing belongs to the Städel in Frankfurt. Christus was active in Bruges after Jan van Eyck's death in 1441, continuing the tradition of precise naturalism that made Netherlandish art famous throughout Europe. His surviving drawings are rare, making this portrait particularly valuable for understanding his working methods and the Northern Renaissance drawing tradition.