In the quaint Belgian town of Ghent, they are celebrating the birth of Emperor Charles V. He was born there 500 years ago on the 24th February the son of Philip the Fair and Johanna "The Madwoman" of Castille.
The same day saw the opening of a major exhibition in Bonn entitled Charles V (1500-1558) Europe's Power and Weakness curated by Lothar Altringer at the KAH. Over in Madrid they are celebrating too. Spain is where the Emperor died in peacefully in retirement at the San Jéronimo monastery Yuste.
The internet has websites entirely dedicated to this centenary that can have no relevance at the year's end. People are making a BIG deal out of this.

    All of Europe's best museums and royal palaces are enriched with works of art and exquisitely crafted objects resulting from Charles V's patronage. It is thanks to his fondness for portraits that his bearded face with its jutting jaw and Hapsbrug lip is so familiar to us now.
An Emperor was obliged to circulate his image in the form of flattering portraits around the courts of Europe over which he held dominion. Although born in humble Ghent, Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor was not only ruler of Flanders and The Netherlands, he also inherited the crowns of Spain and the Two Sicilies and conquered large tracts of Central and South America. He cultivated relations with England and his son Philip married Henry VIII's daughter. The finest artists in Europe were kept busy painting his portraits with the most celebrated results issuing from the brush of Tiziano Vecellio (Titian). Tiziano's biographer Charles Hope comments that Charles V "had little interest in painting as such" and little regard for artists themselves and was really only interested in perpetuating his fame through portraits. It is true that he did not commission such lavish sensual mythological paintings as his son Philip later would and the 'Venus and Amor' by Titian and his workshopp on loan from the Uffizi in the present Bonn exhibition is perhaps mis-representing the taste of Charles V as he did not commission the picture. The original canvas, now lost, was a gift to the Emperor on Titian's own initiative.
Paintings and objects glorifying his status or of a religious theme were more representative of the Emperor's taste in art. He was also very faithful to the artists of his birthplace and often sent Titian drawings by Northern artists with orders for Titian to use them as the basis of paintings.
The present King Juan Carlos of Spain has recognized the glory due to Charles V perhaps not specificially as a patron of the arts but as a ruler and loaned works from his private collection to KAH Bonn. The splendid and fragile tapestries which form the centrepiece of the exhibition are from the King's own royal apartments.  This is the first time the nine large tapestries which depict scenes from the Conquest of Tunis, one of Charles V's military victories art will be seen outside of Spain.
As usual with an exhibition devoted to a historic personage it aims to be biographical by showing a broad spectrum of items associated with the Emperor : everything from inlaid armour to globes, clocks, scientific instruments, models, and rare documents.

Raichel Le Goff

24 February 1500
 Grandson on his father's side of Emperor Maximilian I of Austria, and
 on his mother's side of the catholic kings of Spain. Cousin of Catherine of
 Aragon who was married to King Henry VIII of England.

     1516         Inherits the crowns of Spain and the Two Sicilies. Under his rule large areas of
              Central and South America are conquered.
     1520
              at Aachen is crowned Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire. Wins this title
              ahead of his rivals Henry VIII, king of England, and Francis I, king of France.
     1522
              Alliance with Henry VIII to jointly attack France and to divide it between them; does
              not succeed. However, Henry VIII remains Charles' ally in the fight against Francis I.
     1527
              Charles prevents Pope Clement VII from declaring the marriage of Henry VIII null
              and void.
     1554
              Charles' son Philip marries Mary, many years his senior and daughter of Henry VIII.
              The hope of a long-term alliance between Spain and England comes to nothing due
              to the early death of the childless Mary.
     1555
              Charles abdicates from the throne in Brussels.
     21 sept 1558
              dies in the San Jéronimo monastery at Yuste, Spain.
 
 
 

LINKS

Madrid based website in Spanish

Exhibition in Bonn at the kunst-und ausstellungshalle der bundesrepublik deutschland

Belgian website in English with calendar of events for the year 2000 related to Centenary of Charles V
 
 

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