Charlemagne and the Meeting at the Golden Gate

Charlemagne and the Meeting at the Golden Gate, in the National Gallery London, depicts a legendary episode from the life of Charlemagne connected to the Golden Gate of Jerusalem and the Holy Lance—subjects from the vast Carolingian legendary tradition. Jean Hey's treatment of this subject suggests a commission from the Bourbon court with a specific interest in Charlemagne as a dynastic ancestor and Christian emperor. The National Gallery's acquisition of this unusual work documents the range of historical and legendary subjects that Franco-Flemish painters undertook beyond the devotional mainstream.

The composition combines architectural settings—the Golden Gate's massive masonry—with a processional group of figures in Carolingian costume. Hey's precision in rendering the architectural setting contrasts with the necessarily imaginative treatment of the historical figures, whose appearance required invention guided by period conventions of regal display.