Per Krafft the Younger and Belisarius – One of the Foremost Swedish
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Per Krafft the Younger and Belisarius – One of the Foremost Swedish Examples of Neoclassical Painting in the French Style Daniel Prytz Curator, 18th-Century Painting, Drawings and Prints Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Stockholm Volumes 24–25 Foreword Dr. Susanna Pettersson Director General Associate Professor Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, (An Unpublished Drawing on Panel by Salvator (In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between is published with generous support from the Rosa Depicting a Landscape with a Philosopher Altar and Gallery, Fig. 9, p. 163). Friends of the Nationalmuseum. and Astrological Symbols, Fig. 6, p. 22). © Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 2.0 © The Capitoline Museums, Rome. Archivio (In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between Nationalmuseum collaborates with Svenska Fotografico dei Musei Capitolini, Roma, Sovrinten- Altar and Gallery, Fig. 13, p. 167). 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Olin (Editors) and Ingrid Lindell (Publications Magnus Olausson, Martin Olin, Cilla Robach (Per Krafft the Younger and Belisarius – One of Manager). and Lidia Westerberg Olofsson. the Foremost Swedish Examples of Neoclassical Painting in the French Style, Figs. 3–4, pp. 113–114). Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum is published Photographers © Albert Bonniers Förlag, Stockholm annually and contains articles on the history and Nationalmuseum Photographic Studio/ (Nils Kreuger’s Drafts for the Covers of Bland theory of art relating to the collections of the Linn Ahlgren, Erik Cornelius, Anna Danielsson, Franska Bönder (1889) by August Strindberg and Nationalmuseum. Cecilia Heisser, Per-Åke Persson and Hans Ord och Bild (1897), Fig. 2, p. 137). Thorwid. © Bukowskis auktioner, Stockholm Nationalmuseum (Nils Kreuger’s Drafts for the Covers of Bland Box 16176 Picture Editors Franska Bönder (1889) by August Strindberg and SE–103 24 Stockholm, Sweden Ludvig Florén and Rikard Nordström. 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Altar and Gallery, Figs. 1–8, 10–12, and 14–18, © The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. pp. 155–172). Photo by Pavel Demidov. © Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 3.0 Volumes 24–25 Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volumes 24–25, 2017–2018 ACQUISITIONS/PER KRAFFT THE YOUNGER AND BELISARIUS Per Krafft the Younger and Belisarius – One of the Foremost Swedish Examples of Neoclassical Painting in the French Style Daniel Prytz Curator, 18th-Century Painting, Drawings and Prints In 1796, at the age of 19, Per Krafft the Younger (1777–1863) received a travel stipend from the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. This was partly due to the unexpected death of Jonas Åkerström (1759–1795), aged just 36, whilst in Rome on a stipend the previous year. Krafft left for Paris, where he spent several years as the only Swede studying under Jacques- Louis David (1748–1825).1 David had a great number of students and his teaching, which was conducted in the Louvre at this period, emphasised painting and drawing techniques, modelling and nature studies, always with Antiquity as the ideal.2 Belisarius was a successful Byzantine general (c. 505–565), whose achievements included defeating the Ostrogoths in Italy. Falsely accused of conspiring against Emperor Justinian I (c. 482–565), Belisarius was punished by being blinded, after which he had to survive by begging at the gates of Constantinople.3 Depictions of the loyal soldier’s fall into undeserved disfavour with an ungrateful leader became popular during the second half of the 18th century, partly thanks to Jean-François Marmontel’s (1723–1799) novel, Bélisaire from 1767.4 Marmontel was one of Denis Diderot’s (1713–1784) encyclopaedists and one of the leaders among that era’s enlightened French intelligentsia. In 1772, he succeeded Charles Pinot Duclos (1704–1772) as the historiographe du Roi, “the king’s historio- grapher”, a position previously held by Fig. 1 Per Krafft the Younger (1777–1863),Belisarius , 1799. Oil on canvas, 125 x 94 cm. Voltaire. Marmontel often wrote moral Purchase: the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, NM 7468. 111 Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volumes 24–25, 2017–2018 ACQUISITIONS/PER KRAFFT THE YOUNGER AND BELISARIUS (1770–1837) and paintings by Nicolas- René Jollain (1732–1804), Louis-Jean- Jacques Durameau (1733–1796), François- André Vincent (1746–1817) and Jean- François-Pierre Peyron (1744–1814), as well as busts by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741–1828) and Jean-Baptiste Stouf (1742–1826).10 The influence of David is obvious in Krafft’sBelisarius (Fig. 1), which should be counted among the foremost Swedish works in the style of French Neoclas- sicism. It was painted in 1799 and sent to Stockholm, along with the compositions Phrygian Lyre Player in Meditation, Paris, Love and a few portraits, to be exhibited at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1801.11 Recently extensive overpaint has been removed from the work. In all certainty this was added when the painting was relined, possibly in the early 1920’s. The reason for the overpaint is unknown, but perhaps it reflects the taste for an even more pared down neoclassicism. The later additions of the ”classical” buildings in the background have, for example, a somewhat 1920’s feel and their removal reveals a beautifully lit, almost arcadian, landscape Fig. 2 Jacques Louis David (1748–1825), Belisarius Begging for Alms, 1781. Oil on canvas, 288 x 312 cm. Palais Beaux-Arts, Lille, 436. which adds depth to the composition. Belisarius’ cape is also now revealed to be of a pinkish and lilac hue, rather than reddish brown. The focus falls firmly on the finely executed figures which almost appear to stand in relief against the background. All this put the present work works, but Bélisaire also has a political close to liberals, such as Marmontel, but in close affinity to works executed during dimension.5 The author manipulated the was soon to become a declared republican the same period by Gérard. This becomes story in relation to the classical sources and revolutionary, chose this subject in his even more apparent when one takes into he based it upon, specifically to use it as reception piece for the Académie Royale account other specific details such as the criticism of a regime characterised by a de Peinture et de Sculpture, exhibited at very close similarities between Krafft’s weak monarch who was under the influ- the Salon in 1781 (Fig. 2).8 It depicts depiction of Belisarius’ companion and ence of a disingenuous aristocracy.6 The how one of the soldiers previously under Psyche in Gérard’s famous painting subject also provided the opportunity to Belisarius’ command discovers, to his Psyche Receiving Cupid’s First Kiss, allegorically target more general criticism distress, the destitute former general. exhibited at the Salon in Paris in 1798 at tyrannical princes, even if it was used Compositionally, the soldier, functions and today in the Louvre (inv no. 4739). by varying political factions – “liberals, as the viewer’s “guide” to the painting’s