# Allegory on the Abdication of Emperor Charles V in Brussels, 25 October 1555, [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [FRANCKEN, Frans II]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on panel, 134 x 172 cm ## Commentary Allegory on the Abdication of Emperor Charles V in Brussels, 25 October 1555, c. 1620 Oil on panel, 134 x 172 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Charles V, seated on his throne, is stretching out his hands to his brother Ferdinand, on the left, and his son Philip, on the right. With this gesture of abdication, Germany passed to Ferdinand and Spain and the Netherlands to Philip. The women bearing standards symbolize the Emperor's Dutch, Spanish and Italian possessions. Charles V is depicted as ruler of the world, with women representing Europe, America and India and Neptune the oceans. Charles' motto was 'Plus Ultra' \(= Further Yet\). ## Related artworks - [An Antique Dealer's Gallery]() - [Arcadia: a Pastoral Landscape]() - [Art Room \(detail\)]() - [Art Room]() - [Ballroom Scene at a Court in Brussels]() - [Christ in the Garden of Olives]() - [Croesus Showing his Riches to Solon]() - [Crucifixion of St Andrew]() - [Feast of Esther]() - [Sebastiaan Leerse in his Gallery]() - [Supper at the House of Burgomaster Rockox]() - [The Baptism of Christ \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()