This oil on canvas formal portrait depicts Alfonso IV D’Este as a young man.  He is painted from the waist up in a three-quarters view. He stands facing slightly to our left with his left hand on his hip and his right arm extended downward holding a folded piece of white paper in his hand.  Alfonso is a light skinned young man with rosy cheeks, dark brown eyes and long curly brown hair.  He stares outward with a stern look on his face.  He wears dark chest armor with a bright blue sash draped diagonally across it.  He has a high white collar with lace inserts.  The sleeves and skirt of his tunic are rich red and gold brocade with a white blouse visible in the slits running down his arms.  There are puffy white cuffs at his wrists.  Hanging below his armor is a blue triangular decoration made of blue and gold ribbons.  The hilt of his sword is visible below his left hand. The background is simple: a column to the right and plain dark brown to the left.