Danish Art - Renaissance To The 18th Century

Renaissance To The 18th Century

Danish panel painting and painted wood-carving of the late Middle Ages was mostly by, or heavily influenced by, the prevailing North German styles, especially those of Hamburg and other Hanseatic cities. At the Protestant Reformation religious painting virtually ceased, and for a long period the most notable portraits of the royal family were made by foreign artists, such as Hans Holbein the Younger's portrait of Christina of Denmark. Albrecht Dürer's portrait of her father Christian II of Denmark, painted in Brussels in 1521, has not survived, though portraits of him by other foreign artists have.

The establishment of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1754 followed the general European pattern, and was intended to develop a national school and reduce the need to import artists from other countries. After a period of development its pupils were indeed to lead the creation of a distinct Danish style. After an architect, the second Director was Johannes Wiedewelt (1731–1802), a Neoclassical sculptor trained in Italy and France, who had followed his father as court sculptor, and is remembered for his memorials and garden decorations including the monument of King Frederick V in Roskilde Cathedral and the Naval Monument in Holmens Cemetery. The first painter to lead it was the Swedish-born Carl Gustaf Pilo (c. 1711-1793), a portraitist and history painter in the grand style, and the next Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard (1743–1809), himself an ex-student, who developed a Neo-Classical style. Leading Danish artists teaching at the Academy included Christian August Lorentzen and Jens Juel, also later Director. Unlike in England, for example, most leading Danish artists for at least the next century trained at the Academy and often returned to teach there, and the tension between academic art and other styles is much less a feature of Danish art history than that of France, England or other countries.

A student of Abildgaard's period at the Academy was Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844), by far the most famous Danish sculptor, who along with the Italian Canova was recognised across Europe as the leading Neoclassical sculptor. Among his works are the colossal series of statues of Christ and the twelve Apostles for the rebuilding of Vor Frue Kirke in Copenhagen. Motifs for his works (reliefs, statues, and busts) were drawn mostly from Greek mythology, but he also created portraits of important personalities, as in his tomb monument for Pope Pius VII in St Peter's Basilica, Rome. His works can be seen in many European countries, but there is a very large collection at the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen. He was based in Rome for many years, and played an important role in encouraging young Danish artists spending time in the city. Another important Neoclassicist produced by the Academy was the painter Asmus Jacob Carstens, whose later career was all spent in Italy or Germany.

The establishment in 1775 of the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory was another royal initiative, typical of monarchies in the period, though the business has outlasted the great majority of such factories, and survives today as part of a larger group, which also includes the Kosta Glasbruk glass company, founded in 1742 by two army officers, and the Orrefors Glasbruk (founded 1898), all known internationally.