Leonora Christina and Other Historical Subjects
He had already become interested in the story of the heroic 17th century daughter of a Danish king, Leonora Christina Ulfeldt (also known as Eleanor Christine), before the 1869 posthumous publication of her 1674 autobiographical narrative Jammers Minde ("Remembrance of Misery"), which he had received as a birthday gift from Haslund and Krohn.
Countess Leonora Christina of Schleswig-Holstein, King Christian IV's daughter by his morganatic love marriage to a noble Danish maiden, had fallen from grace because of her husband Corfits Ulfeldt's high treason. She was then imprisoned for 22 years in the Blue Tower (Blåtårn) in Copenhagen Castle, and spent her final years in the solitude of Maribo cloister.
Zahrtmann commemorated her story in a series of 18 large paintings over many years. The first of these paintings was made public in 1871, Slotsfogden skjæmter med Kvinderne i den nylig fængslede Kongedatters Kammer paa Blaataarn ("Castle Keeper Banters with Women in the Chamber of the King's Daughter in the Blue Tower"). The painting won him a Neuhausen Prize (Neuhausenske Præmie’), was sold to Niels Laurits Høyen's influential Art Union (Kunstforeningen), and was followed by a series of other paintings on the same theme. These paintings established his reputation as one of the leading artists of his time.
Other pictures in the series include: 1873 Leonora Christina forlader Fængselet ("Leonora Christina leaves Prison"), 1875 Leonora Christina i Fængselet ("Leonora Christina in Prison") in the Hirschsprung Collection; Corfits Ulfeldt og Leonora Christina ("Corfitz Ulfeldt and Leonora Christina"); 1882 Dronning Sophie Amalies Død ("Queen Sophie Amalie’s Death") and 1883 Leonora Christina paa Maribo Kloster ("Leonora Christina at Maribo Cloister") both in the collection of the Danish National Gallery; and three versions (1886, 1888 and 1894) of Leonora Christina undersøges af Sophie Amalies Tjenerinder ("Leonora Christina Undressed and Searched by Sophie Amalie’s Maids") in the Hirschsprung Collection.
At the same time he explored other motifs, although Leonora Christina was an obsession that followed him throughout life. In 1872 he made a portrait of Georg Brandes, who summered near Zahrtmann at Christiansholm near Klampenborg north of Copenhagen.
In 1873 he won another Neuhausen Prize for Sigbrit gennemgår toldregnskaberne med Christian II ("Sigbrit Reviews Tax Accounts with Christian II"), and exhibited a preparatory painting for Job og hans Venner ("Job and His Friends"), which won him the Academy’s gold medallion. The final painting of "Job and His Friends" won him the Academy’s gold medallion in 1887, and is considered one of his masterpieces.
In 1873 he also painted "Scene from the Court of Christian VII 1772" to retell the tragic story of Queen Caroline Matilda on the centenniel of the fall of Johann Friedrich Struensee. The painting is in the Hirschsprung Collection. Characteristically for Zahrtmann he made several other paintings over the years depicting the story of these main characters. Professor David Loshack was interested in Zahrtmann's works and rather special colours.
Read more about this topic: Kristian Zahrtmann
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