Artistic Portrayals of Charlemagne
DÜRER, Albrecht
The Imperial Crown c. 1510
Pen drawing with watercolour, 238 x 289 mm
Kupferstichkabinett, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg
Artistic Portrayals of Charlemagne
by Sutherland McColley
One wonders what Charlemagne looked like. As you will see from the following selection of images; Flemish, German, Italian and other artists have had their own vision beginning in 817 to at least 1890. By far the most prominent of the artists was Albrecht Dűrer who presents the Emperor with the familiar crown. Most of the paintings portray him an older man with a beard, wearing a crown, on horseback, or holding a scepter and a sword. The images were executed in various media: oil and watercolor paintings, manuscripts, stone or bronze sculpture, frescos, tapestries and coins. Few images fit the description given in 817 to 836 by his advisor, architect, courtier and biographer Einhard, in "The live of Charlemagne" in this translation from "Einhardi Vita Karoli Magni", 6th edition, ed. G. Waita, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum (Hanover: Hahn, 1911; repr. 1965). "[Charles] had a large and powerful body. He was tall [at slightly over six feet or 1.83 meters], but not disproportionately so, since it is known that his height was seven times the length of his own foot. The crown of his head was round, his eyes were noticeably large and full of life, his nose was a little longer than average, his hair gray and handsome, and his face was attractive and cheerful. Hence, his physical presence was [always] commanding and dignified, whether he was sitting or standing. Although his neck seemed short and thick and his stomach seemed to stick out, the symmetry of the other parts [of the body] hid these [flaws]. [When he walked] his pace was strong and the entire body powerful." Research has revealed several hundred images. Many had little detailed data as to date, size, etc. Those reproduced here are all in public collections outside the United States. Only a few representations are in America.
Charlemagne with a wife, in a depiction from a manuscript written between 817 and 823. The Emperor is portrayed in simple Frankish costume which he preferred to wear
TADDEO ZUCCARO (Italian 1529-1566) Fresco Detail from: "Charlemagne Returns the Ancient Patrimony to the Church" Collection: Sala Regia, Vatican Palace, Vatican State Photograph: Scala/Art Resource, New York, NY
UNKNOWN ARTIST (French 14th Century) Parchment Date: Second half of the 14th Century; Detail from: Grandes Chroniques de France entitled; "Coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III at St. Peter's Rome Collectio: Musée Goya, Castres, France Photograph: Giraudon/Art Resource, New York, NY
BERNAERT van ORLEY (Flemish c. 1491-1541) Oil on wood panel Size: 23 x 7 3/4 inches Detail from: "Charlemagne Receiving the Relics of the Holly Cross from Constantine" Collection: Galleria Sabauda, Pinacoteca Reale, Turin Italy Photograph: Alinari/Art, New York NY
UNKNOWN ARTIST (10th Century) Parchment Size: 26.5 x 17 cm. Date: 991, a copy of a Carolingian original of 830 to 836 Detail from: Lupus of Fulds's Leges Barorum, showing the Emperor with his son Pepin Collection: Biblioteca dei Capitolati, Modena, Italy Photograph: Nimatallah/Art Resource, New York, NY
Taken from a drawing of a mosaic which once decorated San Susanna, Rome, but was later destroyed
ALBRECHT DŰRER (Germany 1471-1528) Oil and tempera on wood panel Size 6 feet 2 7/8 inches by 2 feet 11 inches Date: 1512/13 Based upon five pen and watercolor studies of 1510. (4 in the collection of the Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna, Austria; the 5th, a copy, in Budapest, Hungary. The insignia and robes, whose originals Důer was able to study, were mistakenly traced back to Charlemagne. A copy, about 1600, is in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria Collection: Germanisches National Museum, Nurember, Germany Photograph: Giraudon/Art Resource, New York, NY
Portrait of Charlemagne in an ancient painting now found in the Vatican Museum, Rome
UNKNOWN ARTIST (Italian 16th Century) Oil on canvas Inscribed: "Carolus M:Imp" Collection: The Uffizi, Florence, Italy Photograph: SEF/Art Resource, New York, NY
MELCHIOR BROEDERLAM (Flemish c. 1355-1411 Oil on wood panel Size: 3 feet 9 1/4 inches x 2 1/2 feet Date: 1511-1520 Detail from: left panel of triptych in the Anchin Polyptuch entitled: "The Coronation of the Virgin" Collection: Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, Frnace Photograph: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, New York, NY
JACOB JORDAENS (Flemish 1593-1678 Oil on canvas Size: 25 3/8 x 30 3/4 inches Date: 1660-65 Detail from: the modello for the tapestry cycle "The History of Charlemagne" The scene "The Homage of Caliph Harun al-Rashid to Charlemagne" is based upon Charlemagne's nearly contemporary biography, the Vita Karoli Magni Imperatori by Einhard written circa 833 A 1660 study in gouache, water color and black chalk on paper for the collection of The Louvre is on loan to the Musée des Beaux Arts, Arras, Frnace Collection: Musée des Beaux Arts, Arras, France Photograph: Phillips Gallery, London, England
CAROLINGIAN (Early 9th Century) Silver Date: 806 Minted in Frankfurt It is not a likeness of the Emperor, but copied from the style of Roman coins. Charlemagne introduced sound silver currency which became the official instrument of exchange Collection: Staatliche Museum, Berlin, Germany Photograph: The Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Germany
UNKNOWN ARTIST (German 17th Century) Oil on Wood Size: 190.5 x 17 cm. Detail from: "Saint Philip and Saint Charlemagne" Collection: Historisches Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Photograph: Historisches Museum
GIROLAMO MUZIANO (Italian 1532-1592) (Attributed to) Pen and brown ink with brown wash, heightened with opaque white over black chalk on laid paper, mounted on woven papger Size: 12 x16 1/4 inches (30.6 x 16 cm.) Collection: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa Canada Photograph: National Gallery of Canada
DÜRER, Albrecht (German 1471-1528) Pen and watercolor on paper Date: 1510 One of the studies for the artist's Portrait of Charlemagne Collection: formerly in the Lubomirski Museum, Lviv, Poland Present Collection unknown
UNKNOWN ARTIST (German 19th Century) Sandstone and metal Size: 24.4 x 19.4 cm. (Life-size, full length) Date: 1890 Collection: Historisches Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Location: Old Bridge, Franfurt am Main Photograph: E. Bertling, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Raphael. The Coronation of Charlemagne. c 1516-1517. Fresco. Vaticano, Stanza dell'Incendio, Rome
GIACOMO JAQUERIO (Italian c. 1375-1453) Fresco Detail from: "The New Heroes" Collection: Manta Castle, near Saluzzo, Italy Photograph: Alinari/Art Resource, New York, NY
UNKNOWN ARTIST (Carolingian 9th Century) Bronze statuette Size: 24 x17 inches 17.5 x 9.5 cm. Date: 9th century Charlemagne or his grandson Charles the Bald This work is only surviving example of Carolingian three-dimensional sculpture Collection: The Louvre, Paris, France Photograph: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, New York, NY
CROWN OF CHARLEMAGNE West German or Milan Gold, cloisonne, enamel, precious stones and pearls Size: foreplate 14.9 cm. high x 11.2 cm wide Date: octagon shape 962 or 967; crown cross 11 century; top-arch 1024-39; red velvet cap 18 century. The emblem of the Order is said to have been made in 962 for the coronation of Otto the Great or for his son Otto II as co-emperor in 967 Collection: Kunsthistorisches, Vienna, Austria Photograph: Scala, London, England