Focus on this artwork and explain the Composition.
The painting shows a young knight, surrounded by a rather crowded series of symbols.  The heron caught in the sky by a hawk might hint at this knight's death in battle, also alluded to by his posture, which recalls that of a funerary statue; an alternative theory is that this is a memorial portrait of a person already dead.  The other knight with a lance might then be the same person during his life.  Alternatively, the figure on horseback might be his page; the page of a knight occasionally appears in portraits wearing his master's helmet and having his gauntlets on his person, ready to supply both when called upon, which seems to have been an actual practice.  Two later examples are Titian's portrait of Alfonso d'Avalos, and a portrait by Paris Bordone of a man in armour with two pages (now Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). In the left lower corner is a white ermine and a scroll stating "I prefer to die rather than to incur dishonour" (malo mori quam foedari).  The symbolism of these and the other animals and plants have been much discussed by art historians.
ermine hawk heron Paris Bordone Titian Alfonso d'Avalos portrait Metropolitan Museum of Art art historian