Reliquary bust of Charlemagne (Charles the Great), 1349 in the Aachen Cathedral (Aachener Dom) Treasury - Aachen Germany.
Reliquary bust of Charlemagne (Charles the Great), 1349 in the Aachen Cathedral (Aachener Dom) Treasury - Aachen Germany. Made from silver and gold decorated with antique gems and cameos. Created 500 years after the death of Charlemagne, the bust is an idealized representation, the facial structure, hair style and fleur-de-lys crown of which reflect 14th-century, not 9th-century fashion style. According to the Aachen tradition, the Bust of Charlemagne was a donation from Charles IV, who was crowned king in Aachen Cathedral on 25 July 1349. Charlemagne or Charles the Great was a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Emperor of the Romans from 800. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of western and central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire around three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne fo