# Portrait of an African Man (Christophle le More?)

- By: Jan Jansz Mostaert (Haarlem, 1465–1552)
- Date: c. 1525 - c. 1530
- Medium: oil paint (paint), oak (wood)
- Classification: painting
- Dimensions: painted surface: height 30 cm x width 20.3 cm
- Credit line: Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, with additional funding from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, the Mondriaan Stichting, the VSBfonds, the BankGiro Lottery and the Rijksmuseum Fonds
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/SK-A-4986--a231a419729290607eb2da681ab80ac3)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/GQZmT/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This is the only known portrait of a black man in early European painting. He may have served at the Brussels court of Emperor Charles V, who had a black archer called Christophle le More among his bodyguards. The badge of the Virgin on his cap is a souvenir of a pilgrimage to Halle (Brabant), a favourite destination of pilgrims from the Brussels court.