Sigmund von Herberstein in Muscovite Costume (1526)

The book Rerum Moscovitarum Commentarii (Vienna 1549, Basel 1556) was the first comprehensive and scholarly description of Russia published in the West. The imperial envoy Sigmund von Herberstein (1486-1566) embarked on two diplomatic journeys to Russia (1516-18 and 1525-26). He learned the Russian language and, as a humanist, he was eager to write a historical and ethnographic description of Muscovite Russia modeled after classic Roman and Greek authors. This portrait of Herberstein in Muscovite dress probably stems from a colored edition of his book, which became the most important reference for subsequent studies of Russia and particularly for cartographic works.