Emperor Charles V
16th century
Medium
Engraving; third of four states
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 5/8 x 5 5/16 in. (21.9 x 13.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number
20.92.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Emperor Charles V** is a striking 16th-century engraving Barthel Beham, German artist renowned among the "Little Masters" for his intricate small-scale prints. This portrait captures Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, vast empire spanned Europe and the Americas during a pivotal era of Renaissance politics and Reformation turmoil. Produced around the mid-1500s, the work exemplifies Beham's in rendering powerful figures with fine detail, making imperial authority accessible through reproducible art. As the third of four states, this impression reflects Beham's iterative process: engravers like him...
About the Artist
Barthel Beham · 1502–1540
Barthel Beham (1502–1540), a pivotal figure in the German Renaissance, was born in Nuremberg into a family of artists. The younger brother of the renowned engraver Hans Sebald Beham, he honed his craft under the tutelage of his elder sibling and the master Albrecht Dürer, absorbing the precise techniques of engraving and painting that defined Nuremberg's vibrant artistic scene. Emerging as a prodi...