| King and Artist
| | A sure sign of the breakthrough of a new conception of man, was the individualism, which started to mark the art of portraits.
This first showed itself in portraits of the royal families, but soon spread to the nobility and the middle classes. |
Christian I
A sure sign of the breakthrough of a new conception of man, was the individualism, which started to mark the art of portraits.
This first showed itself in portraits of the royal families, but soon spread to the nobility and the middle classes.
The first lifelike portraits of Danish sovereigns are from the end of the 15th century. It is Mantegna´s portrait of Christian I, who was painted, when he stayed in the prince palace in Mantova in North Italy.
In 1474 the king travelled south in a political-diplomatic errand and arrived in Italy, where he experienced the currents of the new age. In a mural in the castle Malpaga you can see the Danish king on horseback. He is hunting with the Venetian general Bartolomei Colleoni.
In his travels the king also met the pope, who characterized the king as ”a beautiful animal, but unfortunately without the power of speech”. The king could not speak Latin, which was the language of the learned far into the 17th century.
Christian I | 
Christian I | 
Portrait | 
The king and the pope |
King Hans and Adam van Düren
King Hans (1481-1513) continued his father´s efforts to modernize the kingdom. There is no portrait of king Hans, but a stylised relief on the well curb in the crypt of Lund´s Cathedral, attributed to Adam van Düren, is considered to be lifelike.
Adam van Düren is an early example of a named artist with a versatile knowledge and feeling for scenes. A relief bust in a window recess in Lund´s Cathedral is considered to be a self-portrait of the artist.
Adam van Düren was the man behind the extensive restoration of Lund´s Cathedral in the beginning of the 16th century. King Hans actively participated in the project and gave instructions that the church was to have its original appearance back – perhaps an expression of the Renaissance’s ideas of revive and restore the past. In that case this is about an interest in the Roman age.
Kong Hans | 
Adam van Düren |
The Well in the Crypt
In connection with the restoration a well was built in the crypt of the church. The relief on the well curb represents the king and a citizen. The text on the king´s scroll says: Honour is above all. Opposite there is perhaps the first depiction of a citizen, a merchant, who is holding on to his purse and says: No, says the money, where I turn, there is no love.
Another relief depicts a commoner’s wife and a monk. The text is this: Many give good advice to other, even though he seldom takes it himself. On a third you see a giant louse sucking blood form a tied sheep: The text says: The hungry louse bites the sheep, that is true. God help the sheep, which is tied and cannot scratch itself. The hungry louse must be pleased.
The Well Curb | 
The Well Curb | 
The Well Curb |
Christian II
The king, Christian II, had through his marriage, strong contacts with the Netherlands. The prominent portrait painter Michel Sittow´s portrait of the king in Dutch three quarter profile is probably the first ”modern” portrait painting in Denmark.
Christian II | 
Drawing |
The Altarpiece in Elsinore
The influence from the Netherlands is clearly felt in the original altarpiece for the Saint Mary´s Church in Elsinore. Here the king has let himself be portrayed with his spouse at the bottom of the altar piece.
There was no doubt, who had paid for the art piece. The king interferes with divinity, so to say, in a pretentious representation of himself. But on the other hand, if the nobleman Poul Laxmand could place his insignia above the high altar and an upstart like Hans Pothorst could let himself be portrayed in the vault of the church, why shouldn’t the king let himself be portrayed on the altar piece itself.
Altar Piece |
Jörgen Kock
One of the king´s faithful allies was the mayor of Malmo, Jørgen Kock, is seen here in a very early portrait. Kock was an aristocrat but evidently preferred to be portrayed as a commoner. Perhaps a way of showing sympathy for Christian 2´s. hostility towards nobility?
Jörgen Kock |
|