Charles V’s death: crafting words and images for the second Caesar

Abstract

Many contemporary sources confirm that Charles V (1500-1558) was very fond of mental prayer and devotional images, especially during his retirement at Yuste. These works of art did not function as portrayals or replicas of something concrete, but rather like signs that sought to facilitate evocation through visualisation. By examining specific books, manuscripts andpaintings, I will consider how visual and textual media interacted to activate the devout imagination of the Emperor so that he could experience the time, space and emotions of the sacred things depicted, and how he used them at the end of his life as a systematised Ars Moriendi. In addition, I will analyse comparatively the funerary rituals of the Emperor and his wife, and the procedures of relocation of the royal bodies ordered by Charles V and Philip II, until their final rest in Granada or in the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.