Charles V receives the visit of Saint Francis Borgia at Yuste
1862. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
The painting depicts an exceptionally luxurious interior that could correspond to the residence of the Counts of Oropesa in Jarandilla, where the action purportedly takes place. The scene represents the moment when Charles V receives Francis Borgia, almost in the centre of the composition and before a large fireplace, which decoratively dominates the entire room. On either side of them are noblemen and clerics who follow the scene very attentively. P. de Sandoval’s Historia de la vida y hechos del emperador Carlos V recounts this encounter. It was also evoked by Carlos María Esquivel in a painting and submitted – like this one – to the National Exhibition of 1862, where both painters received the same award of an Honourable Mention.
Joaquín María Herrer trained in Paris, where he assimilated the academicism that characterises his production. The precision of the drawing and the archaeological characterisation of details and figures are paramount. Iconographically, Herrer undoubtedly had in mind Robert Fleury’s painting Charles V at Yuste, which depicts the same subject and whose similarities are evident. Herrer’s work is signed in Paris, which reinforces this knowledge.
La época de Carlos V y Felipe II en la pintura de historia del siglo XIX, Madrid, Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoración de los Centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, 1999, p.268-269, nº 34
