Equestrian Portrait of Charles V (Titian, 1548)

Titian's Equestrian Portrait of Charles V, an oil on canvas painted between April and September 1548, was commissioned by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, to commemorate his victory over the Protestant Schmalkaldic League at the Battle of Muhlberg on 24 April 1547. The emperor is shown mounted on a rearing horse in full battle armour, carrying a lance, in a pose evoking a Roman emperor going out on campaign. The armour and the horse's caparison depicted are the actual pieces Charles wore at the battle, which survive today in the Royal Armoury in Madrid. Rather than a triumphant image, Titian presents the aging and physically frail emperor as staid, controlled and serene, set against a dark wooded landscape beneath a brooding sky. The painting passed into the Spanish royal collection and has been held at the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1827. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/