Year 1548 Artist Titian Support Canvas | Medium Oil on canvas Created 1548–1548 | |
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Dimensions 203.5 cm × 122 cm (80.1 in × 48 in) Location Alte Pinakothek, Munich Similar Titian artwork, Other artwork | ||
The Portrait of Charles V is an oil on canvas portrait of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor by Titian, painted in 1548. As with the Equestrian Portrait of Charles V, it was commissioned by Charles during Titian's stay at the imperial court at Augsburg. It is now held in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, Germany.
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.
In his 2014 book World Order, Henry Kissinger writes of the painting: "The efforts to fill 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 ... levers of hegemonic rule."