The Edicts of Charles V

Description Baron Leys was regarded as Belgium's foremost artist in the mid 19th century. About 1851, he adopted a deliberately archaizing style resulting in part from a visit to Germany. This scene is set in the artist's native Antwerp, identifiable because of the famous church spire in the distance. Between 1520 and 1550, Charles V, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, issued 11 edicts making the practice of Protestantism a crime punishable by death. Antwerp served as a major center of learning and finance that had attracted many foreigners, especially Jews and Protestants.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
9/28/1942	Treatment	varnish removed; inpainted; coated
5/14/1980	Treatment	examined for condition
6/01/1980	Treatment	coated; other
1/01/1991	Treatment	surface cleaned; coated; inpainted; other
7/01/1995	Treatment	inpainted; other
1/01/2011	Examination	examined for condition

Exhibitions

• Exhibition Historique de l'art Belge. 0.
• Salute to Belgium. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1980.
• From Rye to Raphael: The Walters Story. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2014-2016.

Provenance Comte W. de Bourgade [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Comte de Liedekerke-Beaufort, Dinant [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; purchased by William T. Walters, Baltimore, October 24, 1883 (through Charles Deschamps and George A. Lucas); by inheritance, Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest, Walters Art Museum, 1931.

Inscriptions [Label] Paper sticker on reverse: Exhibition Historique de l'art Belge. / Nom de possesseur du tableau: Cte. W. de Bourgade / Subjet de l'oeuvre: Publication des edits de Charles Quint / Valeur / Nom... de l'auteur: Bon Leys

Credit Acquired by William T. Walters, 1883