Carlos I / V and the Escorial

the presence of charles I/V at the Escorial

Abstract

The figure of Charles I/V is present in El Escorial monastery in the pantheon of kings where his mummified body rests. He is also present in places which are especially significant, such as the presbytery of the basilica represented in the group of praying statues of the imperial family, carved in gilded bronze by Pompeo Leoni (1597).

Later (1692) Lucas Jordan represented the emperor offering the crowns of his domains to Jesus Christ, King of Kings, following Titian's model on the painting of the main altarpiece in the Monastery of Yuste (called “The Glory or the Trinity”). Lucas Jordan painted the emperor under the protection of Saint Jeronimo and as an example for his son, who follows him.

In 1693 Lucas Jordan included him in the fresco of the vault of the Chapel of the Doctors of the basilica, where dressed in an armor with imperial insignia and crowned with laurel by an angel, he was part of the group of defenders of the Church against the main heretics.

It is important to remember that the idea of ​​building the monastery was a wish that Charles V entrusted in his will and codicil to his son Philip II, who was always strongly influenced by his father, the Emperor Charles I/V. Therefore, the objective of this work is to point out the presence of the emperor in the paintings and sculptures of the El Escorial monastery.