Portrait of William IV of Bavaria.

Hans Wertinger portrayed William IV, Duke of Bavaria, in 1526. William IV ruled Bavaria from 1508 to 1550 and is remembered for commissioning the famous cycle of history paintings that included Albrecht Altdorfer's Battle of Alexander at Issus. The portrait is in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. The 1520s were a decade of transition, marked by the deaths of Raphael and Leonardo, the shock of the Reformation, and the beginnings of Mannerist experimentation.

The ducal portrait follows formal conventions for depicting sovereign authority, with attention to the duke's features and the attributes of his rank. Wertinger's precise Bavarian style serves the requirements of official court portraiture.