Equestrian Portrait of Charles V

Equestrian Portrait of Charles V, 1548, Titian, oil on canvas, illustrates a powerful example of how the Spanish Royal Family employed art to project military power. In this portrait, Charles V is wearing all the trappings of a military commander, with grey and gold-colored military armor, a metal spear, a metal helmet, and on top of a horse with its head pointed downward. These artistic choices place Charles V within an “atmosphere of splendor” [1] and portray the Spanish King like a military general. Here, viewers don’t see a regal King, but a glorious military general heading off to battle; as a result, the portrait again supports the narrative that the Spanish King is a military leader that leads their own battles and armies. Regardless of whether this narrative was true, it was important for the Spanish Royal Family to portray it due to enormous size and wealth of the Spanish Empire, which made it necessary to demonstrate that the Spanish King had the strength and capacity to rule over and protect a massive empire that stretched over the world. 

Today, modern equestrian portraits have been made to evoke the portrayal of power and strength for people previously sidelined from the limelight of art. Equestrian Portrait of Count-Duke Olivares by Kehinde Wiley illustrates an African-American man wearing a red hoodie and holding a baton of command. The portrait is based on the Equestrian Portrait of Count-Duke Olivares by Diego Velazquez. Count-Duke Olivares was a member of the Spanish Court and a close advisor for Philip IV during his reign [5]. By basing the equestrian portrait on one made for an influential member of the Spanish court, Wiley is able to place the African-American man within a position of strength and glory. By including more modern clothing, the artist is also conveying how the man's clothing, a red hoodie, is not degrading their presence but is enhancing it. Modern uses of classical portraits, like the Equestrian Portrait of Count-Duke Olivares by Wiley, help illustrate how classical art can be used to uplift marginalized groups in the modern era.