Jesper Svenningsen, a Noble Circle. the Vogue for Collecting Italian
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RIHA Journal 0100 | 23 Dec 2014 | Special Issue "Collecting Italian Art North of the Alps" A noble circle. The vogue for collecting Italian paintings in Denmark 1690-17 0 !esper "venningsen #eer revie$ and e%iting managed by' !artin "lin# National$useu$# Stockhol$ (evie$ers' &irgitte &øggil' Johannsen# Sa(rina Norlan'er )liasson Abstract This article presents a closer look at an important moment in the history of art collecting in Denmark when Italian art first began to be admired by noble virtuosi. During the last decade of the 17th and first quarter of the 1 th century! a number of art collections were formed by young Danish noblemen! most of whom had travelled in the company of "rown #rince $rederik. Due to the very incomplete level of documentation we are now often frustratingly unable to gauge the e%act si&e and contents of these collections. 'et the sources presented in the article do suggest a strong bias towards Italian art! by old masters as well as contemporary painters. )ontents Introduction The princely travel parties Ditlev (ibe $rederik (alter $rederik von (eiberg The "ounts )olstein and *eventlow The "ounts +yldenløve and Danneskiold,-amsøe .rtists and e%perts The waning taste .cknowledgements Intro%uction /10 .t what point did Danish collectors begin to appreciate the art of 1enice! $lorence and *ome2 (hile royal patronage was occasionally e%tended to Italian artists or artists working in an Italianate style! little is known of a taste for Italian fine art in other parts of Danish society.1 This article aims to look past the much,studied phenomenon of royal patronage and focus instead on an early circle of private art collectors in Denmark. 3ost of these aristocratic collectors belonged to the entourage of "rown #rince $rederik 41571, 17678! who in 1599 succeeded his father as :ing $rederik IV. .nd like their ;uropean contemporaries, these men came to consider Italian paintings the pinnacle of art and the 1 <y the late 17th century! the Italian pieces in the royal collections included the paintings acquired by $rederik III from -alvator *osa and "iro $erri in the early 1557s and the acquisitions by the architect Lambert van )aven on the king>s behalf while travelling in Italy in 155 ,59. These and other royal acquisitions of Italian fine art are briefly treated in )arald ?lsen, Italian Paintings and Sculpture in Denmark! "openhagen 1951! 11,1@! and in )enrik "arl <ering Liisberg! Kunstkammeret. Dets Stiftelse og ældste Historie! "openhagen 1 97! 166,16 . more general overview of the royal collections is provided by <ente +undestrup! Det kongelige danske Kunstkammer 1737! vols. 1,A! "openhagen 1991! and Børgen )ein, The Treasure ollection at !osenborg astle. The Inventories of 1$%$ and 171&. !o'al Heritage and ollecting in Denmark( )or*ay 1+,,(1%,,! vols. 1,6! "openhagen A779. License: The text of this article is provided under the ter$s o the Creative Co$mons License CC-BY/NC-ND 3.01 RIHA Journal 0100 | 23 Dec 2014 | Special Issue "Collecting Italian Art North of the Alps" pearls of their collection. ?ur knowledge of collecting and uses of pictures in seventeenth,century Denmark remains e%tremely scarce! and while a widespread use of graphic images and decorative painting is documented! we know of few real attempts 4e%cepting those of the king8 to procure high quality paintings from abroad.A Thus the collecting activities of this circle of courtiers mark the point when art collecting first comes into view as a shared activity of the Danish elite! parallel to 4if not always independent from8 the taste and patronage of the king. 2top3 The princel& travel parties /A0 -ince late medieval times a ;uropean Courney had formed an indispensable part of the education of young Danish nobleman.6 These hugely e%pensive Courneys were usually directed towards academic or military training! though a young gentleman was equally e%pected to return with a knowledge of foreign languages! manners and politics. Time was usually divided between universities and cultural capitals in the Detherlands, +ermany! $rance and Italy! in appro%imately that order of preference. .rtistic matters formed part of the standard curriculum too! yet the Danes do not appear to have brought back souvenirs of paintings and sculpture in greater number.@ <y the late seventeenth century! the character! duration and outcome of the nobleman>s Courney had been formalised into what we now know as the +rand Tour.E Danish princes too were e%pected to educate themselves abroad and in 159A,96! the young "rown #rince $rederik left for his +rand Tour. The chosen route carried him and his retinue via $rankfurt! DFrnberg and Innsbruck to the .lps, from where he entered Italy as the first Danish monarch in two centuries. .fter visiting 1enice! the prince Courneyed south along the .driatic coast to spend spring in *ome and after a short soCourn in $lorence in 3ay! he continued by sea to +enoa and on to 3arseille. The following si% months were spent in different cities in southern and western $rance! studying language and customs. ?nly then was the prince A #ovl Eller! Kongelige portrætmalere i Danmark 1$3,(&-! "openhagen 1971! 5@,7AG #ovl Eller! H<orgerne og billedkunsten på "hristian @s tid. Jddrag af )elsingør skifteprotokoller 15A1,1557!H in: .ra .rederiks"org /mt! 197@! 7,1 E. 6 1ello )elk! HDen danske adels dannelsesrejser i Europa 1E65,1557!H in: !iget0 magten og æren. Den danske adel 13+,(1$$,! .arhus A771! EA@,EE5G #ernille )asselsteen, H"hristian I1>s *idderakademi i -orø og den danske adels udenlandsrejser ca. 1E57,15E7!H in: $lemming Lundgreen-Dielsen and )anne *uus! eds.! S#1"t i mår. Dansk .olke#isekultur 1++,(17,,! vol. @! "openhagen A77A! 67E,@ 6. @ . few e%ceptional cases of paintings commissioned by earlier Danish travellers to Italy are mentioned in ?lsen! Italian Paintings and Sculpture in Denmark! 16. E The literature on the +rand Tour is vast! especially as the <ritish tradition is concerned! see for instanceK .nthony <urgess and $rancis )askell! eds.! The /ge of the 3rand Tour! London 1957G +eoffrey Trease! The 3rand Tour! Dew )aven and London 1991G <ruce *eford! 4enice and the 3rand Tour! Dew )aven 1995G Ilaria <ignamini and .ndrew Wilton, ed.! 3rand Tour. The Lure of Ital' in the 6ighteenth entur'! e%h. cat.! =ondon 1995G Edward "haney! The 6#olution of the 3rand Tour. /nglo(Italian ultural !elations since the !enaissance! London 199 G Beremy <lack! Ital' and the 3rand Tour! Dew )aven and London A776. License: The text of this article is provided under the ter$s o the Creative Co$mons License CC-BY/NC-ND 3.01 RIHA Journal 0100 | 23 Dec 2014 | Special Issue "Collecting Italian Art North of the Alps" considered ready to make his appearance in #aris and at the court at 1ersailles, before returning home via $landers and )olland. /60 #rince $rederik>s +rand Tour is considered of great importance for the course of royal patronage in Denmark. The impulses received are perhaps most notable in his modelling of his favourite palace $rederiksberg on Italian prototypes, yet the prince was not the only one to come under the spell of Italy. )is retinue included a group of young court officials, many of whom had been friends of the prince since childhood. .nd as the prince was invited into the palaces of *ome! $lorence and #aris, so were these young noblemen. .s a consequence! most members of the travel party were severely smitten with the taste for anything Italian! be it art and architecture! dances or dinners. /@0 Italy left such a deep impression on the prince himself that he even decided to return one day! and si%teen years later! in 177 ! he embarked on his second Italian Courney! now as :ing of Denmark.5 That an absolute monarch should travel abroad for leisure was almost unheard of and caused endless administrative headaches. -everal daily dispatches were needed for the king to rule from the far end of the continent. Though the purpose of the Courney was clouded in mystery 4and surely caused some speculation throughout ;urope8! the king>s agenda was hardly suspect.7 It seems that he simply wished to revisit Italy for the sake of entertainment and recreation! to attend lavish balls and in short to relive his youth. To this end! he brought with him a number of his companions from his first Courney. This time the chosen route carried the travel party through =eip&ig! DFrnberg and .ugsburg to Innsbruck and from there across the .lps into Italy. "hristmas was spent in 1erona before arrival to 1enice in time for the carnival. Though *ome had been a natural and important stop on his first +rand Tour! it clearly held little fascination for the bon vivant :ing $rederik who felt no need to revisit the ;ternal "ity. The lavishness and festivity of 1enice suited his tastes better! and the ten,week soCourn there seems to have been the main obCect of the Courney. .nd after spending the following si% weeks in Tuscany! the king and his retinue of 1A1 people headed back to Denmark.9 /E0 .lthough $rederik himself was mostly interested in gardening and architecture and primarily brought back 1enetian glass and other obCets d>art! he also saw fit to acquire a 5 The most recent account of the second journey can be found in !o'al Treasures from Denmark 17,%7 .rederik I4 in .lorence! e%h. cat.! $lorence 199@. 7 3ogens <encard! HThe Bourney!H in: !o'al Treasures from Denmark 17,%7 .rederik I4 in .lorence! e%h.