Halfronde haarddeksteen met het wapen van keizer Karel V 1600 - 1650

This is a semi-circular hearth tile, created by an anonymous artist, adorned with the coat of arms of Emperor Charles V. Consider the context in which this tile was made and used: the fireplace, a central feature of the home, would have been a gathering place for family and community. To decorate it with the symbols of imperial power suggests a negotiation between the personal and the political. What does it mean to invite the symbols of state power into one's domestic space? The choice to depict Charles V's coat of arms also speaks to the complex layers of identity during this period. Charles V ruled over a vast empire, and his heraldry would have been a potent symbol of authority and control, but also of a particular kind of cultural identity. The tile embodies this intersection of local life and imperial power.