The Slotskirken of Christiansborg, Copenhagen

Description

Among the many important neoclassical buildings erected in Copenhagen during the 1800s was the Slotskirke or royal chapel, completed in 1826. Heinrich Hansen painted this sober, quiet view of the chapel's interior, carefully rendering its delicate shadows and patches of sunlight. Probably inspired by 17th-century Dutch paintings of church interiors, the artist accurately portrayed many of the building's features. The angels in the pendentives (the triangular areas beneath the circular dome) were carved by the great Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1768-1884).

Provenance

Simon Dickinson, Ltd., London. Purchased by the CMA on 4 December 1995.

The Slotskirken of Christiansborg, Copenhagen

Heinrich Hansen

c. 1850s

Accession Number

1995.66

Medium

oil on fabric

Dimensions

Framed: 48.5 x 44 x 2.5 cm (19 1/8 x 17 5/16 x 1 in.); Unframed: 35.4 x 31.4 cm (13 15/16 x 12 3/8 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund