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The silver point drawing presumably contains a portrait of the Basel legal scholar and humanist Sebastian Brant, created during the journey to the Netherlands. Brant, who had been Dürer's sponsor and client during his stay in Basel, was staying in the Netherlands at the same time as the artist in order to represent the city of Strasbourg at the court of Emperor Charles V. Seen in a three-quarter profile looking to the right, he appears to us as a critical, older gentleman. Though his arms and hands are only sketched in, Dürer concentrated particularly on creating a natural depiction of the face. In about 1520, when the portrait must have been produced, Brant had already gained international fame through his moralizing and satirizing poetic work, the Ship of Fools.
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