In this half-length portrait a young man is shown in strict profile, facing left, his forearm resting on the balustrade that runs across the bottom of the composition. He wears a striking costume, with a doublet open at the chest over a long-sleeved shirt, and a spectacular turban-like hat known as a “chaperon,” consisting of a hemispherical crown encircled by a deep tubular band. The hat’s brightly-coloured tail, or “liripipe,” falls onto the man’s right shoulder, passes around the back of his neck to the left and then runs down over the chest, where it loops up and is apparently attached in some way. The magnificence of the headgear is reinforced by the pearl earring hanging from the sitter’s left earlobe, which catches the light coming in from the left and stands out against the shaded part of the neck.