Charlemagne, by Albrecht Dürer
Emperor Charlemagne, by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Copyright Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg.
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) painted an imaginary portrait of
Emperor Charlemagne (d. AD 814). Charlemagne is probably wearing the
embroidered garments that are still extant and are associated with later rulers.
The Emperor is shown wearing a red gown with
appliqué roundels with eagles; a
stole of yellow cloth with a foliate design,
applied jewels and
pearls, and more roundels with eagles; a red mantle or cloak with pearls and gold and red motifs, and ornate gloves. The actual Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman emperors are now in the
Kaiserliche Schatzkammer, Vienna, Austria. The red gown in question is a Chinese red
silk damask garment (XIII 15), decorated with
goldwork and pearls, with black silk roundels. The
stole (XIII 8) is in ivory silk with
applied silk, embroidered roundels and pearls, while the cloak is probably the
Mantle of Roger II of Sicily (XIII 14), which dates to AD 1334. The
Imperial Gloves may be based on extant examples (perhaps XIII 11) or ones that are now lost. The Dürer painting is regarded as the earliest known accurate and realistic representation of these Imperial garments.
Above the Emperor, Dürer has painted the German imperial coat of arms and the French coat of arms with the
fleur-de-lis.
The painting, together with the imperial insignia, was once a year shown at the
Heiltumsweisungen at the
Schoppersche Haus, at the Nuremberg market place (Nos. 15-17).
A late sixteenth or early seventeenth century copy of the painting is now in the
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria, acc. no. GG 2771, 2014/1432. The garments in this copy are not accurately rendered with respect to the colour of the gown and the decoration on the mantle. The original of the painting is in the
Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremburg.
It seems that this portrait is 6 centurys later then Charlemagne died.
But he could wear it on his coronation
Marc
