The ''Portrait of Charles V'' is an oil on canvas portrait of

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

, painted in 1548. As with the ''

Equestrian Portrait of Charles V ''Equestrian Portrait of Charles V'' (also ''Emperor Charles V on Horseback'' or ''Charles V at Mühlberg'') is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Titian. Created between April and September 1548 while Titian was at the i ...

'', it was commissioned by Charles during Titian's stay at the imperial court at

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

. It is now in the

Alte Pinakothek The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pinak ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It shows Charles V seated on a chair to the left, facing the viewer, with his black robes contrasted with the red carpet and gold tapestry behind him. In the right half of the painting is a landscape, barely sketched in, in light colours.

Lambert Sustris Lambert Sustris (c. 1515-1520 – c. 1584) was a Dutch painter active mainly in Venice. The works Sustris completed in Italy exhibit either a Mannerist style or qualities that may be deemed proto- baroque. He is also referred to as ''Alber ...

may have painted the landscape, and possibly even the whole painting in Munich; there may be a lost

prime version In the art world, if an artwork exists in several versions, the one known or believed to be the earliest is called the prime version. Many artworks produced in media such as painting or carved sculpture which create unique objects are in fact re ...

by Titian. In his 2014 book ''

World Order In international relations, international order refers to patterned or structured relationships between actors on the international level. Definition David Lake, Lisa Martin and Thomas Risse define "order" as "patterned or structured relatio ...

'',

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

writes of the painting: "The effort to fulfill his aspirations inherent in his office was beyond the capabilities of a single individual. A haunting portrait by Titian from 1548 at Munich's Alte Pinakothek reveals the torment of an eminence who cannot reach spiritual fulfillment or manipulate the, to him, ultimately secondary levers of hegemonic rule."

Bibliography

* Andrew John Martin, ''"Titianus. F." Il Ritratto di Carlo V seduto dell'Alte Pinakothek di Monaco'', in "Studi Tizianeschi. Annuario della Fondazione Centro studi Tiziano e Cadore", Numero V, 2007, pp. 76–96.

References

External links

{{Titian

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

Collection of the Alte Pinakothek 1548 paintings 16th-century portraits Cultural depictions of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Portraits of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor