Christian VIII & the National Museum

by Lund, John; Jensen, Jorgen Steen; Rasmussen, Bodil Bundgaard

• ISBN13: 9788789438054
• ISBN10: 8789438051
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-12-01
• Publisher: Aarhus Universitetsforlag

Summary

Prince Christian Frederik (1786-1848) became King Christian VIII of Denmark in 1839. His accession to the throne took place at the end of Denmark's 'Golden Age' a period haunted by national bankruptcy but, notably, due to a few men of vision also a period in which painting, poetry and science developed intensively. Because of his intelligence, energy and patronage of the arts, King Christian VIII became one of the entrepreneurs of Danish cultural life.In 1818, before becoming King of Denmark, the Prince and his wife, Princess Caroline Amalie, visited Germany, Switzerland, Italy, England and France. While in Naples, the Prince acquired a large collection of South Italian vases and coins, thereby laying the foundation for his Vase Cabinet, which was to become the nucleus of the Collection of Classical Antiquities and the Collection of Coins and Medals at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.After his death in 1848, the King's collection became state property and was transferred to the National Museum. In 1998, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the King's death, the National Museum arranged a symposium where a series of papers were presented about the King as a collector and about the importance of the collections. This book, lavishly illustrated with photographs of the collection and other artifacts, contains the symposium papers, which have been revised and expanded.

Table of Contents

Preface

A Danish Prince in Naples

Christian VIII as numismatist: his collections of coins and medals

What the collections meant to Christian VIII

The needs of a gentleman: the Egyptian antiquities in the collection of Christian VIII

Royal connoisseur and consular collector: the part played by C.T. Falbe in collecting antiquities from Tunisia, Greece and Paris for Christian VIII

"Much went to the grave with Christian VIII"

Abbbreviations and bibliography

Index of names

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