DOCSLIB.ORG

CHRISTINA PIPER a Woman’S Power and Creativity by Mia Gröndahl

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
CHRISTINA PIPER a Woman’S Power and Creativity by Mia Gröndahl CHRISTINA PIPER A Woman’s Power and Creativity By Mia Gröndah Copyright: Mia Gröndahl & Te Cultural Association of Christinas Wänner Diligent, fearless and resolute, Christina Piper ruled over an empire that included manors, palaces, numerous business ventures and an alum works. During the frst decades of the 18th century, Christina Piper was a prominent entrepreneur in the Nordic region, her skills were seldom e!ualled by her peers, both men and women. In 1751, the year before her death, Christina Piper wrote these words to her only son and main heir, Carl %redrik Piper& 'I have learned to know the world; honour and reputation have always followed me and with the blessings of those on High I have amassed considera#le property, this would never have happened had I corrected myself by the ways of others, or frittered away my days in search of companionship and amusement&&&' !e "o#ng Christina (hat a joyful beginning to the new year!+ ,n Sunday, 1st January 1673, Christina Olofsdotter T2rne frst saw the light of day. She was the frst child of Olof Hansson T2rne and 20-year old Margareta Anders9n, and the frst of fve siblings, two brothers and three sisters. :e family lives a stone;s throw from Stortorget in Gamla stan, the bustling commercial centre of Stockholm, where her parents are successful entrepreneurs. Tey are well on the way to establishing a fortune and believe that women and men should have e!ual inheritance rights. 8s with her brothers, Christina is taught to read, write and count in the confnes of her home; schools and universities are only for boys. Once she has completed her home6 schooling she will be married to an appropriate spouse; he will have been carefully vetted by her parents. Christina;s wealth must not +be thrown away; it is a family asset that must be nurtured for the beneft of the family and its position in society. Christina;s parents do not have to search far for a suitable husband, he already exists in the family. !e Go den Years -hortly after her 17th birthday, Christina marries Carl Piper, a high6ranking Swedish civil servant. Carl is her step-uncle and of the same generation as her parents. He began his career as a government clerk and has progressed through society;s ranks to become a -tate Secretary at Karl X";s court. Te marriage of Christina;s prosperous family and Carl PiperAs important government post heralds a bright future. ChristinaAs parents wedding present to the newly married couple is a stately home at Munkbron in Gamla Stan in the centre of Stockholm. Christina;s role as housewife re!uires her to manage the home and produce children – she seems to get pregnant easily and after just eight years she has produced six daughters, )ust three survive infancy. "n 1697, Karl X"" inherits the Swedish throne and Carl Piper is promoted to Advisor to the King and granted the titles of Count and Baron. At just 24 years old, Christina is now entitled to wear the red robe of the Privy Council. Te doors to power are wide open. A War Widow 8 dramatic change takes place in Christina;s life in February 1700. Te joy of giving birth to a son, Carl Fredrik, is overshadowed by the declaration of the Great Northern War and her husband;s enlistment as Head of the Swedish Field OFce. At 27, Christina unexpectedly fnds herself as a war widow. (ith no man to lean on, Christina is now responsible for her family, household and fnances, but because she is a woman she has limited legal rights. Nevertheless, Christina takes the reigns and by skilful use of networking at court she soon becomes a fgure of infuence and authority. "n the ffth year of the war, Christina visits her husband in the feld and at their last meeting in Germany in 1707 Christina once again becomes pregnant with their daughter, Sofa. Sofa will never meet her father. At the Battle of Poltava, Carl Piper is captured and he lives out the rest of his life as a prisoner of war in Russia. He dies in 1716. (hen peace is eventually declared, Sweden has lost a large part of its male population and the country;s economy is on its knees. At 43, for the frst time in her life, Christina is now allowed to make her own decisions. She determines to never re6marry and live out her days in the Province of SkIne where she believes her future lies. !e %ncrowned 'ueen o( Skåne "n the autumn of 1720 Christina Piper and Sofa, her youngest daughter, move to Krageholm Manor in Skåne. By this time Sofa;s sisters are married and Carl Fredrik is employed by Queen Ulrika Eleonora as Court Chamberlain. Christina;s writing desk at Krageholm Manor is the pulpit from where she supervises her properties, investments, employees and growing family. %rom her new home in Skåne, Christina initiates several new and exciting pro)ects. Her biggest challenge is the alum works at Andrarum. Christina had started investing in the works as early as 1715, but it was to take many years before she acquires the ma)ority of the shares and thereby full control of this very proftable company. She becomes interested in property development and is responsible for fve new manors and their landscaped gardens. Te jewel in the crown is Christinehof, which is close by the alum works. Christinehof or the New House, as it is known at the time of building, is completed in 1741. However, Christina feels at home at Krageholm Manor and will never leave it. Christinehof becomes an overnight residence on her visits to the alum works – it is certainly a worthy stopover for SkåneAs uncrowned queen. Christina and +ur ,ord Christina spent the last few years of her life at Krageholm Manor surrounded by her Dielke grandchildren, lap dogs and companions, Helena Kylander and Anna Maria Hudbeck. Her snuf box was always within easy reach. Every morning and evening Christina would retire to+ the chapel she had built at Krageholm. Having organised+ the entailed estates to protect the hard6won empire she had established, only one !uestion remained: Was Our Lord satisfed with the manner in which Christina had conducted her extraordinary lifeO Christina could lay claim to a long list of good deeds. She has worked hard throughout her life. Financed the beautifcation of many churches. Established a poorhouse for deprived women at the Alum Works. Made donations to universities and hospitals. Lncouraged her employees follow the teachings of Jesus. Promoted Pietism, a Lutheran revival movement that reached Sweden in the 18th century. With its belief in mankind;s independence, inner discipline and ability to create opportunities that would beneft the world, the doctrines of Pietism were well6matched to Christina;s convictions. ,ne wonders what her life would have been had she not dared to break new ground, think her own thoughts and carry out her decisionsO 8fter a short period of illness, Christina Piper died at Krageholm Manor on 25th March, 1752. She was 79 years old. :e young Christina Piper 27 ar nybliven krigsQ nka.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Acquisitions for the Reopened Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2011
    Stockholm Supplement 2018.qxp_Layout 1 25/09/2018 14:35 Page 1 Acquisitions for the reopened Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2011–18 Stockholm Supplement 2018.qxp_Layout 1 25/09/2018 14:35 Page 2 Stockholm Supplement 2018.qxp_Layout 1 25/09/2018 14:35 Page 3 Acquisitions for the reopened Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2011–18 ork on the newly refurbished Nationalmuseum, was a clear educational and art-historical endeavour in the Museum’s Stockholm, which reopens to the public on 13th acquisitions policy, centred on notions of styles and periods, gradually this October, has built on three simultaneous and faded away in favour of a focus on aesthetic experience alone. The solitary parallel projects: renovation and remodelling of artistic genius was seen as supplying material for a dramatic narrative, Wthe building, a new display of the collection and against a backdrop built increasingly around individual masterpieces. new acquisitions. Alongside transforming the old building into a museum that is tter for purpose and more secure, Sleeper awakened by a young woman with a lit wick, or Il Fumacchio, considerable energy has gone into making the collections more accessible. by Nicolas Régnier. c.1622–25. Canvas, 101 by 133 cm. This has involved both showing well-known works from the collections Gift of the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, 2011. NM 7077. in a new way and rediscovering others that, for one reason or another, had fallen into obscurity. This scene of ribaldry was presumably invented by Régnier, a Franco-Flemish A review of the extensive holdings of the Nationalmuseum highlighted Caravaist. A courtesan plays a prank on a handsome young prodigal who has dozed a number of gaps.
    [Show full text]
  • The Wealth of the Richest Inequality and the Nobility in Sweden, 1750–1900 Bengtsson, Erik; Missiaia, Anna; Olsson, Mats; Svensson, Patrick
    The Wealth of the Richest Inequality and the Nobility in Sweden, 1750–1900 Bengtsson, Erik; Missiaia, Anna; Olsson, Mats; Svensson, Patrick Published: 2017-01-01 Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Bengtsson, E., Missiaia, A., Olsson, M., & Svensson, P. (2017). The Wealth of the Richest: Inequality and the Nobility in Sweden, 1750–1900. (Lund Papers in Economic History: General Issues; No. 161). Lund: Department of Economic History, Lund University. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private LUND UNIVERSITY study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? PO Box 117 Take down policy 221 00 Lund If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove +46 46-222 00 00 access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Lund Papers in Economic History No. 161, 2017 General Issues The Wealth of the Richest: Inequality and the Nobility in Sweden, 1750–1900 Erik Bengtsson, Anna Missiaia, Mats Olsson & Patrick Svensson DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC HISTORY, LUND UNIVERSITY Lund Papers in Economic History ISRN LUSADG-SAEH-P--17/161--SE+28 © The author(s), 2017 Orders of printed single back issues (no.
    [Show full text]
  • Caroline Years
    CAROLINE YEARS revival t had been generally assumed that Stockholms Banco would continue 47 to exist after credit notes had been stopped. In 1666 Palmstruch was I still expected to run the Bank provided the interested parties, in accor - dance with Bonde’s proposal, contributed capital to cover the losses. How- ever, the co-participants rejected Palmstruch’s appeal for help and he was powerless on his own. At the end of October 1666, Jochum Pötter, the merchant who subse - quently presented the liquidation accounts, offered to take over the Bank provided he was granted three-quarters of its profit plus the Crown’s profit on the cannon trade and the revenue from the salt licence; a further condi - tion was that the Crown would channel all tax and tariff revenue through the Bank. A Council delegation headed by Gustaf Bonde was largely in favour but the full Council rejected the offer – the terms ‘were very harsh and altogether insufferable’. When Pötter presented a new offer in March 1667, matters had taken a different turn. Bonde had produced a thorough review of how the Bank should be organised. It copied Palmstruch’s The first three Estates re-establish 1689 Royal autocracy asserts its power over Stockholms Banco as the Bank of the Estates the Bank. of the Realm in 1668. In the era of autocracy, 1680s–’90s The Bank of His Majesty’s Es- the Crown has the last word. Injudicious tates. Cash receipts and approved interest rates lead to an imbalance between assignments are introduced. deposits and loans. The Bank is involved in 1697 Karl XI dies and is succeeded by financing the Great Northern War and this Karl XII.
    [Show full text]
  • Peter the Great Vs. Charles XII of Sweden in the Great Northern War Loren Carrica University of Nebraska at Kearney
    Undergraduate Research Journal Volume 21 Article 10 2017 Peter the Great vs. Charles XII of Sweden in the Great Northern War Loren Carrica University of Nebraska at Kearney Follow this and additional works at: https://openspaces.unk.edu/undergraduate-research-journal Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Carrica, Loren (2017) "Peter the Great vs. Charles XII of Sweden in the Great Northern War," Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 21 , Article 10. Available at: https://openspaces.unk.edu/undergraduate-research-journal/vol21/iss1/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity at OpenSPACES@UNK: Scholarship, Preservation, and Creative Endeavors. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Research Journal by an authorized editor of OpenSPACES@UNK: Scholarship, Preservation, and Creative Endeavors. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Peter the Great vs. Charles XII of Sweden in the Great Northern War Loren Carrica Charles XII, King of Sweden (1682-1718), had the unique ability of imposing his will on any given situation and the equally unique fortune of almost always coming out ahead in the game. He was an absolute monarch with that rare combination of courage and daring, a skilled tactician who excelled on the battlefield. All of Europe marveled at his victories, particularly Narva and his Polish exploits. Each of these remarkable successes was a kind of military education for the young king, but the relative ease with which he triumphed was deceptive in that this string of battles played into a false narrative that he was unbeatable.
    [Show full text]
  • THE UKRAINIAN REVIEW a Quarterly Journal Devoted to the Study of Ukraine
    T he U krainian R eview A quarterly journal devoted to the study of Ukraine Spring, 1991 THE UKRAINIAN REVIEW A Quarterly Journal devoted to the study of Ukraine EDITORIAL BOARD Slava Stetsko Roman Zwarycz Editor Associate Editor Prof. Nicholas L. Fr.-Chirovsky Borys Potapenko Assistant Editor Associate Editor Prof. Lev Shankovsky Dr. Oleh S. Romanyshyn Assistant Editor Associate Editor Prof. Volodymyr Zarycky Stephen Oleskiw Assistant Editor Associate Editor Price: £5.00 or $10.00 a single copy, Annual Subscription: £20.00 or $40.00 Editorial correspondence should be sent to: The Editors, “The Ukrainian Review”, 200 Liverpool Road, London, N1 ILF. Subscriptions should be sent to: “The Ukrainian Review” (Administration), d o Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, Ltd., 49 Linden Gardens, London, W2 4HG. Overseas representatives: USA: Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine, Inc., 136 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10003. Canada: Ucrainica Research Institute, 83-85 Christie Street, Toronto,Ont. M6G 3B1. Printed in Great Britain by the Ukrainian Publishers Limited 200 Liverpool Road, London, N1 ILF. Tel.: 071-607-626617 T h e U k r a in ia n R eview Vol. XXXIX, No. 1 A Quarterly Journal Spring, 1991 C o n t e n t s Editorial: D emocratic Referendum — or Imperialist H oax? 2 1990 in U kraine: The Empire Strikes B ack Eugene Kachmarsky 3 Q uo Vadis; The D ialectics of Liberation Politics in the Soviet U n i o n ...................................................... Roman Zwarycz 10 U kraine and The U nion Treaties of 1920 and 1922 Yaroslav Dashkevych 19 England, Russia and the U krainian Question D uring the Great N orthern War (Part 1 ).
    [Show full text]
  • Nicolaus Bergius a Historico-Theological Exercise on the Status Eds
    BIRGEGÅRD ulla birgegård and monica hedlund (Eds) – HEDLUND ( HEDLUND Nicolaus Bergius A Historico-Theological Exercise on the Status Eds ) of the Muscovite Church and Religion Nicolaus Bergius Nicolaus slavica suecana series a – publications vol. 3 kungl. vitterhets historie och antikvitets akademien | slavica suecana KVHAA series a – publications vol. 3 KUNGL. VITTERHETS HISTORIE OCH ANTIKVITETS AKADEMIEN Slavica Suecana SERIES A – PUBLICATIONS, VOL. 3 Nicolaus Bergius A Historico-Theological Exercise on the Status of the Muscovite Church and Religion Edited by Ulla Birgegård and Monica Hedlund KUNGL. VITTERHETS HISTORIE OCH ANTIKVITETS AKADEMIEN Slavica Suecana SERIES A – PUBLICATIONS, VOL. 3 Nicolaus Bergius. A Historico-Theological Exercise on the Status of the Muscovite Church and Religion. Eds. Ulla Birgegård (including introduction and commentary) and Moni- ca Hedlund (including translation from Latin and commentary). Kungl. Vitterhets His- torie och Antikvitets Akademien (KVHAA), Slavica Suecana, Series A – Publications, vol. 3. Stockholm 2019. 327 pp. This work is an edition of the first part of Nicolaus Bergius’s dissertationExercitatio Historico-Theologica de statu ecclesiae et religionis Moscoviticae, printed at Stockholm in 1704. The book secured Bergius a licenciate’s degree at Uppsala University. The first part of his work consists of two sections: the first historical, comprising 20 chapters, the sec- ond dogmatic, comprising 33 chapters, in essence a comparison between the Lutheran catechism and the first part of Peter Mogila’sOrthodox Confession. The historical section of Bergius’s dissertation contains most of what was known about Russia in the West in terms of the people, language, alphabets, faith, Bible translations, printed books, print- ing houses, churches and monasteries, clergy, liturgy, feast days, schools, sects etc.
    [Show full text]
  • Historiska Institutionen
    Historiska institutionen Master Programme in Early Modern Studies – Northern Europe 1450 – 1850 Royal Power and Bureaucracy. The Function of the Högste Ombudsman in the Last Phase of the Great Northern War. Author: Simon Carpels Supervisor: dr. Peter Ericsson Master Thesis, VT 2012 Seminar: May 28, 2012 Seminar tutors: Prof. dr. Maria Ågren & dr. Mikael Alm 2 Abstract The power struggle between the Charles XII and his bureaucracy after the crushing defeat in Poltava (1709) mainly concerned the unwillingness of the latter to raise a new army that could be shipped to Pomerania. In reaction to this disobedience the king reformed his bureaucracy. Among other things, the Carolinian reforms introduced the högste ombudsman . The office was to enforce the law and supervise all civil servant and military officers. This thesis deals with the question of how the högste ombudsman functioned within this power struggle. The source material consists of the correspondence between the högste ombudsman and various bureaucratic institutions from every level of society. By consistently prosecuting civil servants and military officers and enforcing the law, he was able to guarantee the functioning of the bureaucracy and at the same time fulfilled an important ideological function. He showed Swedish society that the bureaucracy was controlled and that disobedience was not tolerated regardless of social standing. This is especially apparent in his activities with the central and regional authorities. The latter were strictly controlled as they were instrumental in the supervision of the local authorities. However, as a side effect of the Carolinian reforms, the högste ombudsman had to answer many requests from local authorities that not always directly related to the main objectives of his office.
    [Show full text]
  • From Toruń to Vilnius: the Journey of King Stanisław in the Winter of 1708
    ZAPISKI HISTORYCZNE — TOM LXXXII — ROK 2017 Zeszyt 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.15762/ZH.2017.62 JERZY DYGDAłA (Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences) From Toruń to Vilnius: the Journey of King Stanisław in the Winter of 1708 Key words: Masovia, Podlachia and Lithuania during the Great Northern War, King Stanisław Leszczyński, travel conditions in Poland in 1708 In the available biographies of King Stanisław Leszczyński the period of his first reign in the Rzeczpospolita in the years 1706 –1709 is treated very cursorily. The authors of the major biographies – Józef Feldman and Edmund Cieślak devoted little space to this period.1 This resulted from the fact that the basic Polish evidence-based monograph of this stage of the Northern War by Kazimierz Jarochowski finishes with the description of the events of February 1705.2 Another reason was the failure to analyse such important sources as the letters of royal secretaries Samuel Kazimierz Szwykowski and Józef Mi- chał Karp, who almost every day reported to the Grand Chancellor of Lithua- nia Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł3 the events from the life of the king. It is true that Józef Andrzej Gierowski and Andrzej Rachuba used the sources, but the former provided only an outline of unsuccessful attempts at uniting the “nation” of noblemen on the part of Stanisław Leszczyński, while the latter concentrated mainly on the nomination policy of the monarch in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.4 1 Józef Feldman, Stanisław Leszczyński, Warszawa 1984 (3rd ed.), pp. 73 – 84; Edmund Cie- ślak, Stanisław Leszczyński, Wrocław 1994, pp. 56 – 62.
    [Show full text]
  • A Call to Phase out Fossil Fuels Lending by the European Investment Bank a Call to Phase out Fossil Fuels Lending by the Europea
    A call to phase out fossil fuels lending by the European Investment Bank CEE Bankwatch Network Na Rozcesti 1434/6 190 00 Praha 9 – Liben Czech Republic Email: [email protected] http://www.bankwatch.org Bulgaria: Centre for Environmental Information and Education (CEIE) Za Zemiata, For the Earth Croatia: Green Action Czech Republic: Centrum pro dopravu a energetiku (CDE) Hnuti DUHA Estonia: Estonian Green Movement-FoE Georgia: Green Alternative Hungary: National Society of Conservationists - Friends of the Earth Hungary (MTVSZ) To: Anders Borg Latvia Minister for Finance Latvian Green Movement Regeringskansliet, SE-103 33 Stockholm Lithuania: Sweden Atgaja Macedonia: Eko-svest A call to phase out fossil fuels lending Poland: by the European Investment Bank Polish Green Network (PGN) Russia: The European Investment Bank (EIB) – the EU’s house bank - is the Sakhalin Environmental Watch world’s biggest public lending institution. With a lending portfolio of EUR Serbia: 72 billion (2010) it is bigger even than the World Bank, and was set up in Center for Ecology and 1958 to support the implementation of EU policies. Sweden as one of Sustainable Development (CEKOR) shareholders of the bank bears responsibility for how these resources are Slovakia: not sufficiently contributing to the solutions we need to urgently put in Friends of the Earth - Center place and sometimes they are used and for ensuring that they contribute for Environmental Public Advocacy (FoE-CEPA) to sustainable development.. Ukraine: National Ecological Centre of In 2010, over EUR 17 billion (24 percent) of EIB lending was devoted to Ukraine (NECU) the energy sector, making it the bank’s second largest lending sector CEE Bankwatch Network‘s after transport.
    [Show full text]
  • Ladda Ner Katalogen I Pdf-Format
    !"#$%&'&#$()*&%(&$"$ )&$&'+, !" Nordisk hi!oria ur ERICSBERGS BIBLIOTEK III Stormaktstid Sammanställd av #$%& '(%()&&*+ , #$%-.$& &%(+/$00 1%*23-*04 44566 6++(-?00&@A)%(23+.+B Förord ......................................................................... C Katalog ....................................................................... D Kristina ................................................................. D Karl X Gustav ................................................... CC Karl XI ................................................................ DE Karl XII ............................................................ EFE Referenser ............................................................. EGH Register .................................................................. EGI 2(+%)$0$+%.3/$).$%(% Drottninggatan "7b S-888 7! Stockholm Tel: +9! : 988 ;8 7! Fax: +9! : <= ;7 =: www.centralantikvariatet.se e-mail: [email protected] Plusgiro >> := :8-! Bankgiro >!;-==7" Medlem i Svenska antikvariatföreningen Member of ILAB FÖRORD J(%%$ K) L(+ %)(LM( katalogen med nordisk historia ur Ericsbergs bib- liotek. Den första kom hösten <==:, och hade titeln Från sagatid till vasatid, och den andra kom våren <=8=, och hade titeln Trettioåriga kriget. Denna tredje tar vid med drottning Kristinas regeringstid och avslutas med Karl XII:s död och freden i Nystad 8"<8. Den heter följaktligen Stormaktstiden. Katalogen är huvudsakligen inriktad på den svenska yttre politiken. ENersom den som bekant var ganska expansiv under denna period, så omfattas
    [Show full text]
  • The Scottish Officers of Charles XII Author(S): George A
    The Scottish Officers of Charles XII Author(s): George A. Sinclair Source: The Scottish Historical Review, Vol. 21, No. 83 (Apr., 1924), pp. 178-192 Published by: Edinburgh University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25519662 Accessed: 19/02/2010 07:34 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=eup. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Edinburgh University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Scottish Historical Review. http://www.jstor.org The Scottish Officers of Charles XII. publication of Count Adam Lewenhaupt's Biographical on THE Notes the Officers of Charles XII.1 has opened up a wide field of research for the historian.
    [Show full text]
  • Still Lifes, Botanical Illustrations, and Garden Design in Seventeenth-Century Sweden: A
    Still Lifes, Botanical Illustrations, and Garden Design in Seventeenth-Century Sweden: A Geo-History of Art Elisabeth Knall Department of Art History and Communication Studies McGill University, Montreal January 2020 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Elisabeth Knall, 2020 ii ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates how a growing interest in flowers and plants during the seventeenth century was shared and expressed by artists, scientists, horticulturists, patrons, and estate owners. The focus is on cultural production in Sweden and I argue that information on artistic developments as well as knowledge of botanical discoveries between this Scandinavian country and other parts of the world were shared more frequently and more extensively than has been generally suggested. The thesis’ premise is that both painters and patrons participated in multidirectional geographic travels, and that artistic exchanges were not dictated by national borders. This dissertation consequently contributes to an increased interest within the field of art history in widespread circulation of artistic forms and knowledge. In addition, topics traditionally considered marginal in art-historical discourse, such as scientific illustrations and garden design, are analyzed with the aim of bringing attention to the interactions between different areas of artistic production. This thesis does not subscribe to symbolic readings of still lifes or interpretive parameters based on a perceived domination by a few national schools of art. Instead, this dissertation brings attention to the exciting prospect of new insights obtained through an openness to alternative analytical approaches. The introduction explores the reasons behind a noticeable surge in cultural production in Sweden during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, including the importance of Gothicism and the country’s participation in the Thirty Years’ War.
    [Show full text]