Allegory on the Abdication of Emperor Charles v in Brussels
Also titled Allegorie op de troonsafstand van keizer Karel v te Brussel
Frans Francken (II) (Antwerp, 1581–1642)
c. 1635 - c. 1640
- Medium
- panel, oil paint (paint)
- Classification
- painting
- Dimensions
- support: height 132.6 cm x height 132.8 cm x width 170.7 cm
- Museum
- Rijksmuseum
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
About this work
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.
