Lecture 4 - An Empire Divided: Spain & Austria

Lacking a fixed, permanent 'Habsburg' capital, it is said that Charles V made 40 major journeys about his territories during his long reign, spending about a quarter of his life 'in the saddle', a remarkable total even by the standards of the sixteenth century. In time, this wearied and faithful servant of God and his patrimony (for Charles believed the latter was held in trust from the former) realised that this great responsibility was too much for one man. So, plans that had been in embryo since the 1520s were put into effect and he began the process of handing on his titles, culminating in his abdication at Brussels in 1556 (reimagined in this later painting seen above). Thus came about the creation of the twin Habsburg entities of Spain and Austria, handed on respectively to his son, Philip, and his brother, Ferdinand.

One artist captured this period of 'transitional' Habsburg power - Titian. As Charles V dominated the political life of Europe, so Titian was THE artist of his generation. Both the emperor and his son, Philip, together with other members of the family commissioned numerous works from the great Venetian and in his retirement at the monastery of Yuste in Extremadura, Charles was surrounded by his paintings. One of the many interesting facets of these relationships was the subtle changes in style which stemmed from Titian's approach to painting as other European artists responded to his innovations. Comparisons with France and England at mid-century are telling, with both countries maintaining a certain independence of expression, while absorbing new ideas as a truly European artistic language capturing royal power is established.