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Original filePortret van Karel IX van Zweden als hertog van Södermanland
About This Work
The sitter is shown in a bust-length profile view, facing left, enclosed within a titled oval border. He is clad in ornate plate armor with a delicate lace collar and a fur-lined mantle draped over his shoulder. The engraving exhibits the high-precision linework characteristic of the Imperial court workshop in Prague.
Engraved by Aegidius Sadeler in Prague, this work originates from the Hermetic and alchemical milieu of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II's court. Charles IX's own court was a site of significant esoteric activity, notably involving the mystic Johannes Bureus, who developed 'Gothic Kabbalah' while serving the Swedish crown during this period.
Inscriptions(Latin)
D. CAROLVS D.G. SVETIAE GOTIAE AC VANDALIAE etc: PRINCEPS HEREDITARIVS. DVX SVDERMANNIAE, NERITIAE, AC WERMELANDIE . etc: cum privil. S. Cæ. Mtis Qui cum Rege Sigismundo bellum gerit: & subacta Suecia, in Liuoniam, pari fortuna transtulit . Sadeler excudit Pragae.
Translation
LORD CHARLES, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, HEREDITARY PRINCE OF SWEDEN, THE GOTHS, AND THE VANDALS, ETC. DUKE OF SODERMANLAND, NERIKE, AND VARMLAND, ETC. with the privilege of His Imperial Majesty Who wages war with King Sigismund: and having subdued Sweden, carried it with equal fortune into Livonia. Sadeler printed [this] in Prague.
Connected Texts
Johannes Bureus
Bureus was the royal antiquarian and mystic who served under Charles IX, blending Norse runes with Kabbalistic and Hermetic traditions.
Rudolf II
The artist Sadeler was the principal engraver for Rudolf II in Prague, where this print was produced in an atmosphere of intense esoteric study.
Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 181 mm x width 125 mm
portrait
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.