Allegory on the Abdication of Emperor Charles v in Brussels

• Allegory of the Abdication of Emperor Charles V
• Allegory on the Abdication of Emperor Charles v in Brussels

SK-A-112

• inscription, bottom left, on the globe, from top left: ‘MARE NORT[?] / AFRICA / BRASIIA [sic]/ NVBIA / OCEAN’
• inscription, centre left, on the banderol round the Corinthian column: ‘PLVS.VLTRA.’
• inscription and date, bottom right: ‘S[ANCTI]: R[OMANI]: IMPERII SPONTANEA RESIGNATIO A. CAROLO V. IMP[ERATORE]. IN FERD[INANDUM]:I.FR[ATREM]:REGNORUM Q[UE]. HÆRED[ITATIS] IN / PH[I]L[IPPU]M. II HISP[ANIAE]. REGEM FIL[IUM] FACTA BRVX[ELL]:Æ.1555. / EX INVEN[TIONE]:D.[OMINI] PETRI.DE.HANNICART.’
• coat of arms, above centre, on the tester behind the throne, of the archduchy of Austria
• coat of arms, above right, on the green standard, from the left, first row: of the duchies of Brabant, Limbourg, Luxembourg, Guelders; second row: of the counties of Flanders, Artois, Hainault, Holland; third row: of the counties of Zeeland, Namur, Zutphen and the Margraviate of the Holy Roman Empire; fourth row: of the lordships of Mechelen, (?)Utrecht, Friesland, Overijssel; bottom row: of Groningen
• coat of arms, above right, on the yellow standard, from the left, top row: of the kingdoms of Sicily, Naples; in the centre: of the duchy of Milan; bottom row: of the kingdoms of Sardinia, Corsica
• signature, bottom right: ‘FFRANCK’
• coat of arms, above right, on the pink standard, from the left, top row: of the kingdoms of Castille, Leon, Aragon; second row: of Navarre, Grenada, Toledo, ?; third row: of Minorca, Galicia, Cordova, Catalonia

Charles V is enthroned at centre. Battle weary and wracked by illness, in 1555 he divided up his empire. He gave his brother Ferdinand (left of the throne) the Holy Roman Empire, while his son Phillip (at the right) became King of Spain and Lord of the Netherlands. The three figures in the right foreground personify the continents America, Africa and Asia over which Charles’s vast empire also stretched. Neptune (left) symbolizes his power at sea.

H.J. Horn, Revue d'art canadienne Art Review I (1986), p. 23-29

painter: Frans Francken (II)

c. 1635 - c. 1640

olieverf op paneel

height 132.6 cm x height 132.8 cm x width 170.7 cm

purchase 1805

Public domain

…;{An unidentified seal on the reverse showing the elaborately patterned initials (?)RB beneath a crown is that of a previous owner.} from Heer George, The Hague, fl. 2,550, to the museum, 1805/06;{E.W. Moes and E. van Biema, _De Nationale Konst-Gallery en Het Koninklijk Museum_, Amsterdam 1909, pp. 83-84, 106, 131, no. 79 of his receipt, and p. 216.} on loan to the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, 2002-03; on loan to the Stedelijk Museum het Prinsenhof, Delft, 2004-08

• H.J. Horn, Revue d'art canadienne Art Review I (1986), p. 23-29
• Vittu, Jean Cornelisz. Vermeyen, Institut des belles lettres Arabes CXL (1979), p. 73, 246.
• Inzoomer object op zaal, 2013 (Nederlands/English).

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200108429