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Original filePortret van keizer Karel V
About This Work
The Emperor is depicted in ornate plate armor and an ermine-lined mantle, holding a massive sword and the globus cruciger. Behind him is a shield bearing an eagle, signifying his status as the secular head of the Holy Roman Empire. This print is set within a Dutch biographical text detailing his lineage as the Count of Holland and his election as Emperor in Frankfurt.
Charles V was the central secular authority during the Reformation and a figure of immense importance to the geopolitical landscape in which Renaissance Hermeticism and natural philosophy flourished. His reign was often associated with the prophetic and millenarian idea of a 'Universal Monarch,' a concept that influenced both political and esoteric thinkers of the 16th century.