Description

This portrait of Charles V in polychrome plaster is presented in one single piece. The subject has no arms and is shown from the waist up. The work sits on a rectangular pedestal decorated on each side with rectangular crests; and carved into each of these is a concave oval shape. The central piece features the following inscription around the oval: "IMP / CAES / CAROLUS", alluding to the monarch as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. This positions the work in line with a recurring iconic model used in representations of Charles V, relating him to the great Caesars of the Roman Empire, based on his attributes of power. Two naked figures, a man and woman kneeling, flank the corners at the front of the pedestal as atlantes. 

Charles is wearing Roman armour comprising spaulders, breast-plate, and back-plate, with a sash draped across his upper body. The piece is heavy with symbolism: we see an effigy of the Virgin Mary on the breast-plate, inscribed in an oval cartouche form, and the emblem of the Order of the Golden Fleece, of which he was Grand Master. The ceremonial collar of the Order, founded in 1429 by the Duke of Burgundy, comprises a chain of square-shaped links and a representation of the golden fleece of Jason. This is one of the symbols associated with the iconography of the Emperor. Thanks to his founding of the institution, it is also associated with the University of Granada. 

The idealized face, the chin held high, and the harsh expression emphasise the grandiloquence of this representation.

The work is a copy of the sculptures created by brothers Leone and Pompeo Leoni. Many replicas of their works have been made in different eras and using different materials, from bronze and marble to this polychrome version, which currently resides in the Salón Rojo of the Royal Hospital building (Rectorate of the University of Granada).