Sweden: A Royal Treasury

SWEDEN
A Royal Treasury
1550-1700

Michael Conforti and Guy Walton

Editors

National Gallery of Art, Washington

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
This exhibition is made possible through contributions
from The Boeing Company, the Federation of Swedish
Industries, and the Swedish Government. It is
indemnified by the Federal Council on the Arts
and the Humanities

Exhibition dates
National Gallery of Art, Washington, 13 April-5 September 1988
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 9 October 1988-1 January 1989

Copyright © 1988. Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art,

Washington, and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. All rights
reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in
part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections
107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by
reviewers for the public press), without written permission
from the publisher, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
20565

The catalogue was produced by the Editors Office, National

Gallery of Art, Washington, and is distributed by the
University of Chicago Press

Edited by Tarn L. Curry

Designed by Melanie B. Ness

Printed by Princeton Polychrome Press, Princeton, New Jersey,

on eighty-pound Warren's lustro offset enamel
The type is Méridien, set by VIP Systems, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia

COVER ILLUSTRATION: Detail, cat. 51, courtesy Royal Armory

(photo by Goran Schmidt)
FRONTISPIECE: Cat. 3, courtesy the Treasury, Royal Palace
(photo by Sven Nilsson)

Library of Congress catalog card number: 88-5225

ISBN 0-89468-111-7
 Contents

Directors' Foreword 7 Acknowledgments 9

Lenders' Preface 8 Introduction 11

Michael Conforti Sweden's Imperial Experience and Its Artistic Legacy 13

Stig Fogelmarck The Swedish Royal Heritage: The Royal Armory,

the Royal Collections, and the Nationalmuseum 29

Guy Walton Royal Castles and Palaces: The Architectural Image

of the Monarchy in Sweden 37

List of Abbreviations 54

CATALOGUE 57

The Royal Regalia 58 Christina 118

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie 126
Gustav Vasa 66
The Coronation of Queen Christina 132

Erik XIV 70
Charles X 138

John III and Sigismund III 76 The Coronation of Charles X 146

Charles IX 82 Charles XI 154

Charles XI's Coming of Age 162
Gustavus Adolpfrus 92 Hedvig Eleonora 172
The Thirty Years War 104
Axel Oxenstierna 114 Charles XII 182
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger 184

Photo Credits 194

 Directors' Foreword
A s EARLY AS the first century after Christ, Tacitus
saw fit to mention the powerful king of the
Swedes in his Germania, thus documenting the pres-
tude for their gracious willingness to open the exhibi-
tion in Washington. Their Majesties' interest in Swe-
den: A Royal Treasury 1550-1700 has enhanced this
tige of a monarchy that has spanned many centuries. project immeasurably from the outset.
This exhibition, Sweden: A Royal Treasury 1550-1700, Special thanks go to our ¡colleagues in Sweden, par-
focuses on that glittering epoch, which began with the ticularly Agneta Lundstrom,' director of the Royal Ar-
rule of Gustav Vasa and ended with the death of mory; Bo Vahlne, director, and Stig Fogelmarck, for-
Charles XII. During this period of a century and a mer director of the Royal Collections; Per Bjurstrôm,
half, Sweden's royal house acquired the splendid trap- director of the Nationalmuseum; Sven-Eric Nilsson,
pings that we have come to associate with Europe's director-general of the National Judicial Board for
late Renaissance and baroque courts. As diplomatic Public Lands and Funds; and Arne Losman, director
gifts, as crown commissions, and as perquisites of vic- of the Skokloster Castle collection. ^.
tory, sumptuous decorative arts came to furnish the The exhibition has been made possible through con-
reigns of Sweden's remarkable monarchs. These na- tributions from The Boeing Company, the Federation
tional treasures have never been seen in the United of Swedish Industries, and the Swedish Government.lt
States, and many of them have never traveled outside has also been supported in the United States by an in-
of Sweden. demnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the
The timing of this exhibition has been chosen to co- Humanities. At the Embassy of Sweden in Washing-
incide with the 350th anniversary of the founding of ton, His Excellency Count Wilhelm Wachtmeister en-
the first permanent Swedish settlement in the United couraged the organizers. An indispensable role was
States. In 1638 two Swedish ships landed at the played by Count Peder Bonde of Stockholm, chairman
mouth of the Delaware River, near present-day Wil- of New Sweden '88's working committee. A great num-
mington, and the resulting colony encompassed most ber of others, on both sides of the Atlantic, have made
of Delaware as well as parts of New Jersey and Penn- essential contributions to the completion of this exhi-
sylvania. In honor of this historic event a joint bition, and their names appear below in this cata-
congressional resolution passed in May 1987 that pro- logue. Our final thanks here go to the Swedish people
claimed 1988 "The Year of New Sweden/' This exhi- and their government, who have so generously shared
bition is the primary artistic enterprise in the year- with us their invaluable cultural patrimony.
long celebration New Sweden '88, which commemo-
rates not only this important anniversary but also the
warm ties that Sweden and the United States have en- J. CARTER BROWN MICHAEL CONFORT!-'
joyed for so many years. Director S. TIMOTHY FISKE
To Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen National Gallery of Art Interim Co-Directors
Silvia of Sweden we would like to convey our grati- The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Detail, cat. 11

7
 Lenders' Preface
T HE EXHIBITION Sweden: A Royal Treasury 1550-1700
has been organized as part of the celebration New
Sweden '88, commemorating the 350th anniversary of
a famous baroque museum near Stockholm, and from
Stràngnàs Cathedral.
It is the first time these valuable objects have ever
Sweden's first permanent settlement in North America. been shown in the United States of America. In fact,
More than one hundred precious objects—regalia, arms very few of them have been exhibited outside Sweden
and armor, textiles and costumes, and other works of before. This is especially true of the regalia, of which
art associated with the royal family in Sweden during only the anointing horn has once crossed the Swedish
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—have been border.
selected to illustrate the splendor that surrounded the Thanks to special permission from His Majesty the
monarchy at this time and to provide insights into the King of Sweden and the Swedish government, these
political and cultural history of Sweden. unique works of art will now be on view to the Ameri-
The institutions in Sweden that have lent works to can public. We hope that this exhibition will enhance
this exhibition are: the Royal Armory, Sweden's oldest the understanding and appreciation in America for the
museum, founded in 1627; the Royal Collections, abundant cultural heritage of Sweden.
which today, as three hundred years ago, care for the
furniture, textiles, and works of art in the royal palaces AGNETA LUNDSTRÔM BO VAHLNE
of Sweden; and the Royal Treasury, which exhibits the The Royal Armory The Royal Collections
Swedish regalia, important national symbols under the
custody of the National Judicial Board for Public Lands SVEN-ERIC NILSSON
and Funds. Loans have also been included from the The National Judicial Board for Public Lands and Funds
National Swedish Art Museums, from Skokloster Castle, (Kammarkollegiet)

8
 Acknowledgments
A T THE 1983 International Congress on the History
of Art in Vienna, Guy Walton of New York Univer-
sity convinced me to join a group of five French and
Barbro Hovstadius, curators, provided essential support
and advice there. Ulla Landergren, curator of the Royal
Treasury, Arne Losman, director of the Skokloster Castle
American scholars in Sweden the following summer. Ulf collections, Sven Silow, Architect of the Royal Palace,
G. Johnsson, chief curator of the royal castles collections Michael Metcalf of the University of Minnesota, and
and the portrait collection at Gripsholm Castle, orga- Margareta Reverá of Uppsala University gave important
nized a tour of some of the castles and collections that advice throughout the project. Sven-Eric Nilsson, direc-
comprise Sweden's artistic heritage. Our group included tor-general of the National Judicial Board for Public
Danielle Gallet of the Archives Nationales, Paris, Chris- Lands and Funds, with Gôsta Reuterswárd and Karin
tian Baulez of Versailles, Sir Francis Watson, former di- Dahnell, was responsible for coordinating the extraor-
rector of the Wallace Collection, Gillian Wilson of the dinary loan of objects from the Swedish royal regalia.
J. Paul Getty Museum, and William Howard Adams. As And Bishop Tord Simonsson and Gunnar Samuelsson,
the history of the Swedish royal collections began to as well as Âke Nisbeth from the Central Board of Na-
unfold for us that July, the idea of mounting a substan- tional Antiquities, aided in the procurement of the loans
tial exhibition for America began to take form. In June from Strángnás Cathedral. Birgitta Kock of the Museum
1985 Anders Clason, director of the Swedish Institute in of National Antiquities in Stockholm assisted in coordi-
Stockholm, and Ulf Lundin, former cultural counselor nating the project for the Swedish museums.
for Sweden in Washington, asked Guy Walton and me The staff of the Royal Armory were deeply committed
to plan this exhibition in the context of the projected to making the exhibition a success, undertaking many
New Sweden '88 festival. months of research for the catalogue and conservation
Sweden: A Royal Treasury 1550-1700 would not have of objects in the collections. I would like to commend
been possible without the commitment and support of Astrid Tydén-Jordan, Nils Drejholt, Lena Nordstrom,
the New Sweden '88 national committee. Count Peder Lena Rangstrôm, Gudrun Ekstrand, Ann Marie Dahl-
Bonde, chairman of the working committee, and berg, Hans Johnson, Eva Môller, Marta Swartling An-
Ambassador Peter Hammarstrôm, secretary general, dersson, Rebecca Enhôrning, Maud Marcus, Marianne
worked tirelessly to see the exhibition realized. The Lundeberg, Helena Forshell, Peter Sedelius, Hilka Màlar-
Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson, met with us to dis- stedt, Nils Olander, Nils Wahlberg, Rostislav Starhill,
cuss the exhibition, and we gratefully acknowledge her Goran Schmidt, and Per Âke Persson for their work and
interest and encouragement. On this side of the Atlantic, warmly thank them for their help. I also appreciate the
Curtis Carlson, honorary chairman of the American support of Bengt Kyhlsberg at Skokloster.
committee for New Sweden '88, along with Marilyn Nel- Assistance at the Royal Collections was no less impor-
son, a member of the American committee, and Betty tant, and the staff that contributed to this project in-
Throne-Hoist, a member of the New York committee, cludes Goran Aim, Lis Granlund, Hans Lepp, Per
also assisted in preparations for the project. Ahldén, Anna-S tina Gróndahl, Ulla Lôfgren, Henry
Agneta Lundstrôm, director of the Royal Armory, Elander, and Lennart Andersson. Elin Tôrnquist of the
agreed to serve as coordinator of the project for the Central Board of National Antiquities served as conserv-
Swedish museums. Her thoughtful advice and careful ator and Sven Nilsson as photographer of the Royal
attention to detail have been invaluable at every stage of Collections for this project. Karl-Erik Granath photo-
the organizational process. Stig Fogelmarck, former di- graphed the burial regalia from Strángnás Cathedral.
rector of the Royal Collections, and Bo Vahlne, present When the National Gallery of Art, Washington, was
director, were unfailingly helpful. Per Bjurstrôm, direc- approached by the Swedish ambassador, together with
tor of the Nationalmuseum, and Ulf G. Johnsson, Lars Count Bonde and Agneta Lundstrôm, director J. Carter
Sjôberg, Gôrel Cavalli-Bjôrkman, Bôrje Magnusson, and Brown went to Sweden with key members of the Gal-

9
lery staff and came away enthusiastic about the project Institute of Arts responsible for the organization of the
as an important chapter in the history of collecting, one show and thank them for their support: S. Timothy
that is largely unknown in the United States. Narrowing Fiske, interim co-director, Kathryn Johnson, chairman
the focus somewhat, the Gallery has been invaluable in of the education division, Gwen Bitz, registrar, Roxan
the organization of the show. I appreciate the support of Ballard, exhibition designer, as well as Beth Desnick,
Carter Brown and the Gallery's deputy director John Louise Lincoln, Liz Sela, Kathy Hedberg, Anne Knauff,
Wilmerding. I would also like to thank Gaillard Ravenel Jane Satkowski, Thomas Janee, and Mary Mancuso.
and Mark Leithauser, not only for lending their exper- I wish to express our special appreciation for the ad-
tise to the design and installation but also for helping to vice given by Leonid Tarrasuk, Cora Ginsburg, Madelyn
select the objects included in the exhibition. D. Dodge Shaw, Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, and Hugh Tait. Bo
Thompson, chief of exhibition programs, Ann M. Bigley, Lindwall, Patrik Reuterswàrd, and Birgitta Sandstrôm
exhibition coordinator, Elizabeth A. Croog, associate shared their expertise, and Roger Tanner worked against
secretary-general counsel, Mary Suzor, registrar, and strict deadlines to complete a workable English transla-
Mervin Richards, conservator, managed the exacting tion of the texts written in Swedish. Karl-Erik Anders-
task of bringing the royal treasures from Sweden to the son and the staff of the Swedish Consulate in Minneap-
United States. Melanie B. Ness, managing editor, and olis and Beate Sydhoff, cultural counselor for Sweden in
Tarn L. Curry, editor, coordinated publication of the cat- Washington, have also been very helpful. Further
alogue, with assistance from Carl Nylander, director of thanks go to Gunnar Svensson of the Swedish Ministry
the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome and of Education, Ulla Rasch-Andersson, Birgitta Ridderstad,
senior fellow at the Gallery's Center for Advanced Study and Erik Tôrnell of the New Sweden '88 Secretariat, Ove
in the Visual Arts. Ruth Kaplan, Katie Ziglar, and Susan Svensson of the Swedish Institute, Per-Erik Brolén of
M. Arensberg have developed the public information the Swedish Royal Air Force, and Gunnar Green and
and educational programs to accompany the exhibition. Karl Gustaf Jansson of the National Swedish Police
Thanks also go to Alice M. Whelihan of the Federal Board.
Council on the Arts and the Humanities for her gracious Finally, I would like to acknowledge Guy Walton's
assistance in coordinating the details of the indemnity fundamental contributions to the project and thank him
received. for his patience, good humor, and tireless efforts on be-
I would like to recognize the staff at the Minneapolis half of the exhibition and the catalogue. M.C.

10
 Introduction
F EW COUNTRIES HAVE RISEN to power and influence as
dramatically as did Sweden during the baroque age.
The roots of its ascendancy lay in the sixteenth-century
bition were commissioned for ceremonial purposes, ac-
quired as diplomatic gifts, or taken as war booty. Seen
together, they represent a tangible expression of Swe-
consolidation of the Nordic state by Gustav Vasa, and den's hegemony in northern Europe and they illustrate
the zenith of its political and military might was reached the theme of this exhibition: the role of decorative arts
under Charles XII in the first decade of the eighteenth as symbols of royal power and prestige in the sixteenth
century. From the time of Gustav Vasa to that of and seventeenth centuries. Their acquisition by an am-
Charles XII, Sweden was ruled by some of the most fas- bitious monarchy and an increasingly educated, refined,
cinating monarchs in Western history, each a study in and powerful upper class also represents a study in cul-
the complex psychology that drives ambition into lead- tural confrontation and cultural change. During the
ership and molds leadership into statecraft. Although all course of Sweden's rise as a great power, the kingdom
of these rulers contributed to Sweden's territorial expan- evolved from a nation with strong cultural ties to Ger-
sion and its fame as a military leader, each also under- many to one of the major self-consciously Francophile
stood that intellectual and artistic development was in- artistic centers of seventeenth-century Europe. Moti-
tegral to the establishment of a new status for the vated by political and military alliances with France
country as a European power. after the mid-1660s, the Swedish court adopted a style
Sweden: A Royal Treasury 1550-1700 is the story of based largely on the example of Louis XIV's Versailles,
these rulers and their role in the internationalization of eventually importing French craftsmen to execute com-
Swedish sixteenth- and seventeenth-century culture. missions. French influence in the arts, which were sen-
The story is told through the textiles, goldsmithwork, sitively incorporated into native traditions, remained a
arms and armor acquired by the court during their fundamental aspect of Swedish artistic inspiration
reigns. The royal collections of Sweden are little-known throughout the eighteenth century.
outside of Scandinavia. Yet in spite of Queen Christina's The history of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century
removal of many treasures to Antwerp and Rome in Sweden as presented in the following pages is a royal
1654, and the disastrous fire that devastated the con- history exclusively. This restriction has been dictated by
tents of the Royal Palace in 1697, the collections are the theme of the exhibition. The social and economic
extraordinary in both quality and state of preservation. background of this history is also outlined in the vol-
The Royal Armory's seventeenth-century French cos- ume of essays, The Age of New Sweden, written by Swed-
tume and textile collection is the most important hold- ish historians and art historians for the occasion and
ing of its kind in the world. The goldsmithwork in produced by the Royal Armory. We hope both volumes
Sweden's Royal Treasury has only rare parallels in the will provide a lasting contribution to America's under-
collections of other European countries. The country's standing of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Sweden,
legacy of arms and armor is one of the most impressive a fascinating era hardly known to most Americans, even
in Europe. those of Swedish descent. M.C.
With few exceptions, the works chosen for this exhi-

11
 The Swedish Imperial Experience and
Its Artistic Legacy
Michael Conforti

The Swedes are well made, strong, and active, and capable
of enduring the greatest fatigue, want, and hunger. Born
with a military genius, and high spirit, they are more brave
than industrious, having long neglected the arts of commerce.
—Voltaire, History of Charles XII (1731)

I T MAY BE HARD to believe that eighteenth -century

Europe held this alarmingly militant image of one of
the more peace-loving nations of our time, but Voltaire
lation in the Thirty Years War. In less than another
hundred years Sweden was defeated and its possessions
dispersed as a result of one of the most momentous bat-
could easily conjure a sense of shared recollection in his tles in European history. Peter the Great's victory at the
reader by introducing his subject, Charles XII of Swe- Battle of Poltava in 1709 cast Charles XII into exile, arjd
den, with these words. Charles was, in Voltaire's opin- allowed Russia an influence in Europe and its affairs
ion, "the most extraordinary man, perhaps, that ever that it has maintained to this day.
appeared in the world." He had ruled a country that Historians have often considered Sweden's empire
was the fear of European military leaders, a country of Baltic provinces as having been motivated by two
that had garnered enough money and power to rival forces: the need for protection, and a desire for the eco-
Louis XIV's France in the extent and grandeur of its nomic advantages of food production, customs reve-
artistic commissions for a brief time in the 1690s. nues, and trading rights that could accrue from strategi-
Charles was the last in a succession of sixteenth- and cally placed provinces. The center of the European
seventeenth-century Swedish monarchs who had won economy had moved north of the Alps in the sixteenth
this role for their country in European affairs through century, and the seventeenth-century struggle for ad-
military bravery and diplomatic skill. In the process, vantage in this new arena usually pitted France against
they created an "empire" of sorts around the Baltic Sea, Spain and its Austrian allies, with all participants ever
with all the attendant revenues from tax levies and cus- cognizant of the sea power of the Dutch. The changing
toms duties that such a position could provide. alliances that characterize this period usually found the
Sweden's rise as a great power was as remarkable in Swedes siding with France against varying coalitions.
its creation as its fall was catastrophic in its speed. In Sweden was almost always allied against the Danes and
less than one hundred years, from the 1520s to the their north European neighbors for control of the in-
1620s, Sweden grew from a collection of disparate vil- creasingly important Baltic grain trade that supplied
lage enclaves tucked along the shores of the country's food for much of western and southern Europe.
innumerable inland lakes into a nation of world stature, Although Sweden's military and diplomatic policy in
whose armies were the most successful in Europe—the the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries emanated
nation that had saved the Protestant cause from annihi- from this economic reality, success in these ventures
would never have been realized without the direction of
a series of remarkable monarchs. The Vasas and their
1. Gripsholm Castle, courtesy Nationalmuseum Pfalz cousins represent one of the most extraordinary

13
 ambition was therefore coordinated with an artistic pol-
icy that supported its territorial aims. Although the pol-
icy was never formally stated, it represented no less an
instrument of propaganda than that of Emperor
Charles V in the early 1500s or Louis XIV of France
over a hundred years later. And its results, as mani-
fested in architecture, decorative painting cycles, and the
goldsmithwork, arms, armor, and textiles of this exhibi-
tion, were the equal of anything produced in Europe at
the time, the material demonstration of Sweden's ac-
ceptance as one of the great powers of Europe.

Beginning of the Vasa Dynasty, 1520-1560

Before Sweden could become a great power, it first had
to become a country, and credit for the amalgamation
of its disparate provinces and the country's subsequent
self-identification is given to Gustav Vasa (c. 1494-
1560) (fig. 2). In 1397 Sweden had joined Denmark
and Norway in a federation of Scandinavian countries
led by a hereditary monarch who resided in Denmark.
But this union, formed largely as protection against the
common enemy of the Hanseatic League and the
princes of northern Germany, was often regarded in
Sweden as rule by a foreign power. Throughout the fif-
teenth century independent kings were elected in Swe-
den, with the Danish unionist kings intermittently re-
2. Gustav Vasa by Willem Boy, c. 1550, courtesy National- covering sovereignty by force. It was as a consequence
museum of one such attempt by Christian II to regain control in
1520 that Gustav Vasa became the hero of the Swedish
royal houses of early modern Europe, a family charac- call for self-government. Having escaped the "Bloodbath
terized by sharp personalities, always determined, often of Stockholm," in which Christian II slaughtered over
proud and difficult. At the same time, they were natural eighty of his Swedish opponents, Vasa raised an army of
leaders and capable judges of men, and they shared am- rebellion in the province of Dalarna. The unionists were
bitions and talents essential to Sweden's formidable eventually overcome, and on 6 June 1523 Gustav Vasa
triumphs and standing: from the military brilliance of was elected king, an event still commemorated as sym-
Gustavus Adolphus, Charles X, and Charles XII, and the bolizing the consolidation of the country and its inde-
administrative efficiency of Gustav Vasa, Charles IX, and pendence as a national monarchy.
Charles XI, to the intellectual and cultural accomplish- Gustav Vasa, though often irascible, was also skilled
ments of Erik XIV, John III, and Christina. The leader- in writing, formidable in oratory, and confident in his
ship skills of the Swedish rulers were key to the creation ability to lead his country. He put into effect innovative
and the success of the Swedish imperial experiment. administrative and military strategies to build and main-
In an age in which extravagant material display was tain a strong centralized government, just as other Euro-
synonymous with royal authority, the Vasa and Pfalz peans had done in the previous generation. Maximilian
houses enhanced the material culture of their courts of Austria, Edward IV and Henry VII of England, and
to complement their dynastic ambitions. Only on rare Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain had all strengthened
occasions before 1645 did the art works reflect a collect- monarchial authority to the detriment of the feudal sys-
ing "taste" as one might define it today. Instead the ob- tem. Gustav Vasa modernized his state along the pattern
jects were acquired through victorious military cam- of these other powers, also creating a more efficient
paigns and diplomatic missions, and they symbolized economy in the process.
national prestige and dynastic supremacy, the cultural Sweden was a vast land even in the early sixteenth
veneer needed for the country to function authorita- century, and significantly, it faced east rather than west
tively in European political circles. Sweden's imperial (fig. 3). What are now Sweden's southern provinces,

14
3. Sweden and its
Baltic provinces,
1660
Skâne, Halland, and Blekinge, were then Danish. But
Finland, with its eastern border flanking Russia, had
been a Swedish territory since the Middle Ages. This
enormous domain, stretching north to the Arctic Circle,
was sparsely populated and, though rich in minerals,
was limited in tillable land and in growing season.
Given its geographical position, Sweden's tie to Europe
had developed rather late, and the great distances to
Rome and the monastic centers of Europe hampered the
degree of education and civilization fostered by the
church. As a rural country, Sweden also resisted devel-
oping its own commerce and instead encouraged Han-
seatic merchants to develop trade in its cities and towns.
Gustav met numerous challenges in his first years on
the throne. On more than one occasion he suppressed
rebellions instigated by supporters of the Sture family,
who had been regents in Sweden during the Scandina-
vian Union. To pay off his debts to the merchants of
Lübeck, who had financed his assumption of power, he
took advantage of the new doctrine of Martin Luther as
espoused by a local cleric, Olaus Petri (a student of
Luther's at Wittenberg), and confiscated church lands in
1527. The revenues that this provided eventually pro-
duced a solvent regime. Gustav's policy toward the
church had a negative effect on the intellectual life of
the country, however. The nobility in Gustav's time
were ill-educated and untraveled. Catholic priests and 4. Erik XIV, attributed to Domenicus ver Wilt, 1561-1562,
courtesy Nationalmuseum
bishops were virtually the only educated segment of the
population. The forced reforms in the church caused the
clergy to flee Sweden, abandoning Uppsala University,
which had been formed only fifty years before Gustav collection of paintings and tapestries and an armory
came to power. Thus early in his reign the king had to with decorated helmets, shields, and swords, mostly im-
begin importing administrators from the Continent, ported from Germany (cats. 4, 5). Gustav Vasa's court
mostly from Germany, and this practice continued also maintained a complement of scholars whose pri-
through the century. These same foreigners would later mary function was to provide a formal education for his
recommend new mining ventures and farming initia- children that was lacking in himself.
tives that increased the king's personal wealth as well as
that of the state.
The Swedish Riksdag, a representative assembly of
nobles, clergy, burghers, and peasants that evolved dur- A Northern Renaissance Court, 1560-1611
ing the fifteenth century, had supported Gustav Vasa's It is often said that while Gustav Vasa brought the Ref-
election as king and his creation of a state church. In ormation to Sweden, his sons Erik XIV (1533-1577)
1544 it approved the hereditary right of the Vasas to the (fig. 4) and John III (1537-1592) ushered in the Ren-
throne. The king had also sought to legitimate his claim aissance. Erik spoke Latin, German, and French. He
to royal status by marrying into the noble German could draw and play the lute, was schooled in geog-
house of Saxony-Lauenberg. And as the years pro- raphy and the technological sciences of the time, and
gressed, he used his considerable wealth to create a had a mind for abstract theoretical problems. Unlike his
court with some semblance of culture, a court that he father, Erik assumed power easily, having known for
hoped would begin to gain respect for the Vasa regime most of his life that he would be king. His self-esteem
both in Sweden and on the Continent. The Vasa castles was enhanced by a political triumph early in his reign,
served for defense and administration but also as stra- when in 1560 the merchants of Reval in Estonia asked
tegic symbols of the power and refinement of his court. for Swedish protection against Russia, agreeing to
The culture behind the massive facades, although simple Swedish rule in the process. This established Sweden's
and crude by European standards, included a modest first presence on the southern shores of the Baltic, and

16
laid the foundation of the Baltic empire that Sweden benefits were considerable: spectacular works of art
developed in later years. descended to the Swedish royal house (cats. 8, 9), and
Erik created Continental-style courts at the castle of contacts were made with Continental artists who would
Kalmar and in Stockholm, and he became famous for later be employed by John to embellish and enlarge the
the pageantry and festivals that accompanied his reign. Vasa castles.
He and his court would often parade through triumphal John's appreciation for architecture rivaled Erik's love
arches in magnificent horse equipment and armor fash- of court ceremony, and his insistence on continuing to
ioned by the most outstanding craftsmen in Europe build while engaged in costly eastern wars seriously
(cats. 6, 7). Erik also established new court traditions to threatened the financial stability that Gustav Vasa had
enhance his royal image. Following Continental prece- bequeathed to his heirs. Many of the other three-dimen-
dents, he instituted hereditary titles for the nobility, and sional arts also began to flourish in Sweden during
he distanced himself from the nobles of the court by John's reign. Continental goldsmiths, encouraged to es-
asking to be addressed as "Majesty." The elaborate ritu- tablish themselves in Stockholm to work for the crown,
als surrounding his coronation, the first organized for a created objects of great refinement, such as the orb,
Vasa heir, were institutionalized, and the regalia created crown, and scepter ordered in 1585 for John's second
for it are still preserved today. marriage to Gunilla Bielke (cat. 2). As a result, gold-
Hoping for an important political marriage, Erik smithwork became an important artistic tradition in
sought the hand of Elizabeth I of England. A delegation Sweden.
led by his brother John arrived at the English court in The artistic patronage of Erik and John was formed
1559 with a portrait of the young heir and a statement by the education provided by their father and sharpened
of the trade advantages that such an alliance would by the insecurity inherent in their family's recent dynas-
bring to Britain, mentioning too the common bond of tic claim. But Sweden was still a remote frontier of
the two countries in the Protestant faith. After what European civilization in the late sixteenth century. Visi-
appeared to be serious interest on Elizabeth's part, she tors often remarked on the simplicity of living condi-
refused. tions and on the boorish manners of the nobility. In at-
Through the promise of a dynastic marriage and the tempting to transform the image of the country and its
institution of court ceremonies with appropriately splen- royal house, Erik and John had to look to Continental
did accoutrements, Erik sought to confirm the Vasas' courts for models. Not only were the humanistic papacy
legitimate right to the Swedish throne. But during fre- of Rome and the court of the Medici in Florence exem-
quent periods of depression, he revealed a deep fear for plars of cultural patronage, the dukes of Burgundy and
the security of his position. Erik possessed many of the their Habsburg descendents were equally significant
positive Vasa traits, but the family temper that his father supporters of the arts. They were also more cognizant
had controlled through good judgment and common of the political utility of acquiring costly art objects.
sense, in Erik turned into a certain obsessiveness. His Maximilian I Habsburg used art, ceremony, and litera-
fears led to the murder of members of the Sture family, ture as instruments of court propaganda, and his suc-
chief rivals to the Vasas' dynastic claim, and eventually cessors Charles V and Philip II of Spain collected on
to his temporary insanity and imprisonment by his an unprecedented scale. Humanistic theory supported
brother John, who seized power. such patronage, with fifteenth-century Italian treatises
Locked in Gripsholm Castle, Erik drew, read, and on "magnificence" suggesting that purchases of art
spent many hours translating a long Latin text, Historia were a civic virtue.
Gothorum Sveonumque, written in 1534 by a Swedish The reigns of Erik and John were contemporaneous
Catholic cleric resident in Rome, Johannes Magnus. with those of the Habsburg emperors Ferdinand I,
This book created a genealogical line of descent for the Maximilian II, and Rudolph II, whose courts were
kings of Sweden and provided a detailed account of known for their sculpture, goldsmithwork, and elegant
each ruler of the ancient Goths. The image of Gothic su- decorative surroundings. Prague in Rudolph's day was
periority inherent in these pages would inspire genera- a recognized center of the arts. The Swedish kings, al-
tions of Swedes to feats of bravery on the battlefield. though aware of the Habsburg collections, could only
In 1562 Erik's brother and successor John III negoti- aspire to such splendor at this early point in their coun-
ated the dynastic union that Erik could not, marrying try's history. By the close of the Thirty Years War in
Katarina Jagellonica, sister of Sigismund August II of 1648, however, Queen Christina could oversee the
Poland and daughter of Queen Bona Sforza, who had plundering of the imperial art gallery in Prague and
established an outpost of the Italian Renaissance in the the shipment of the great treasures of Rudolph II to
Polish capital of Cracow. The hoped-for political advan- Stockholm.
tages of this match were never fulfilled, but the artistic John Ill's son Sigismund (1566-1632) was elected

17
king of Poland in 1587, a few years after the death of was included in council meetings at the age of ten, and
his uncle, Sigismund II August. When John died five was granted a military command at fifteen. He also had
years later, the crowns of Poland and Sweden were an inventive mind, which enabled him to design arma-
united under him. But Sigismund III was raised in the ments and experiment with new military maneuvers. He
Catholic faith of his mother, and many Swedes, out- knew Latin and Greek, had an aptitude for spoken lan-
raged by the thought of a Catholic monarch, looked for guages, and was fluent in five. Like many Vasas, he was
support from John's brother, Duke Charles (1550- physically brave, and a gifted, even demogogic, orator.
1611). While Sigismund resided in Warsaw, Charles His temper was a constant, but it was not vindictive. His
acted as his regent in Sweden, slowly increasing his sense of responsibility, humility, and humor counter-
base of support. Then in 1598 Charles thwarted Sigis- acted any possibility of despotic behavior. Gustavus had
mund's attempt to attain control in Sweden and was been taught to believe in his own nobility and the
hailed as king, later eliminating some of the most power inherent in his descent from Gothic kings of the
prominent nobles still loyal to the rightful monarch. past. In holding these beliefs, he felt himself privileged
Charles IX waited until 1604 to accept the formal title of and different from ordinary monarchs. By the late 1620s
king from a willing Riksdag. To consolidate his power this feeling of separateness turned in his mind to high
even further, he held off another three years before moral mission when events of the Thirty Years War
agreeing to a coronation. made him confront the threat of the annihilation of the
Usurping the throne in the face of an aristocracy's Protestant cause.
lukewarm reception, Charles could be accused of imitat- After Gustavus Adolphus was crowned in 1617, his
ing his father, Gustav Vasa. He was, like the elder Vasa, marriage and the continuation of the Vasa line became
a cool and competent administrator, while able to rally concerns for the country. He had fallen in love early in
the common man to his objectives. Although seemingly his reign with Ebba Brahe, but his mother kept him
uninterested in the arts, he was willing to spend large from marrying into a Swedish family, however noble.
amounts of money when the symbols of his kingship His had to be a dynastic union, and in the end the
could be enhanced. Glorious objects of silver, gold, and
enamel were commissioned for his coronation, includ-
ing the extraordinary anointing horn (cat. 3) made by
Stockholm's first native goldsmith, Peter Kempe. To fur-
ther increase the impact of this ceremony, his horse was
to have been outfitted with dazzling enamel and gilt-
silver fittings (cat. 10) made by Stockholm's most prom-
inent goldsmith at the time, Ruprecht Miller. Royal pa-
tronage of goldsmithwork continued after Charles' death
in 1611, when a magnificent crown, orb, and scepter
were commissioned for his burial (cat. 12).

Sweden in Europe, 1611-1650

Charles' heir, sixteen-year-old Gustavus Adolphus
(1594-1632) (fig. 5), was already at war when his
father died. He soon defeated the Danes, who had at-
tacked in 1611, and by 1617 he had finished the war
with Russia that his father had begun. Sweden now
controlled the entire eastern coast of the Baltic, and
with these successes, the young king began a series of
brilliant military victories that would create his reputa-
tion as a formidable and innovative warrior. In the
twenty-one years of his reign he accomplished military
and political feats that his forebears never dreamed pos-
sible, enlarging Sweden's territorial and economic pro-
file and establishing the legitimacy and reputation of the
Vasa dynasty in the process. 5. Gustavus Adolphus by J. Hoefnagel, c. 1624, private
Gustavus Adolphus had been trained for kingship. He collection, deposited at the Royal Armory

18
young king agreed. After considerable negotiation, he in 1648 (cats. 30, 31), or libraries, such as that from
proposed to Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, and the Würzburg now housed in Uppsala University, booty was
wedding took place in Stockholm on 26 November a quick means for an ambitious society to acquire the
1620. It was celebrated in a style commensurate with trappings of culture.
the importance of this union of two north European Grateful individuals or communities fearful of being
powers (cat. 17). Ruprecht Miller made a crown for robbed also offered gifts to the Swedish leaders. Augs-
Maria Eleonora's coronation three days later that be- burg arranged for an extraordinary cabinet to be given
came the most revered item of queenly regalia in the to Gustavus Adolphus when he agreed to a peaceful en-
Treasury (cat. 1). try into the city (Fogelmarck fig. 4), and a portrait by
Shortly after his marriage Gust avu s went to war. With the famous Augsburg sculptor Georg Petel was commis-
Bible in hand, kneeling in prayer before every battle, he sioned by an unknown patron to honor the conquering
began an unprecedented expansion of Sweden's territo- northern king (cat. 25). Protestant cities thankful for the
ries and economic influence. His first campaign along protection of Gustavus' army expressed their apprecia-
the Polish coast pitted his army against that of his tion as well. In 1632 Nuremberg presented two exquis-
cousin Sigismund led by Prince Radziwill. In 1621 Riga ite covered silver goblets to the Swedish monarch (cat.
was taken, followed by Mitau and the rest of the fiefs of 24). Swedish nobles also left the Continent with many
the dukes of Courland. His battles in Poland continued purchases, and with the names of agents who were later
intermittently until 1629, when a truce gave Sweden employed to obtain objects and books for their collec-
control of Livonia and certain strategic and profitable tions and to hire artisans for the innumerable palaces
Baltic ports. At the same time, Gustavus signed an alli- and country houses they were planning in Sweden.
ance with Cardinal Richelieu of France, who was begin- Gustavus Adolphus' only child, Christina (1626-
ning to fear the increased power of the Habsburgs more 1689), was just six when her father died, and Axel
than the threat of Protestantism. With this support, Gus- Oxenstierna, chancellor of the realm, was appointed re-
tavus turned to the cause of the Protestant princes, who gent. Oxenstierna (1583-1654) (fig. 6), often likened to
desperately needed help against the seemingly invincible
forces of the emperor. In 1631, at Breitenfeld in central
Germany, the Swedish army routed the imperialists and
the war turned in their favor. The king's death on the
battlefield at Liitzen in 1632 quashed any hope for a
quick victory, however, and the war dragged on sporad-
ically for the next sixteen years until Prague was finally
taken by Swedish troops in 1648.
The almost three decades of conflict on the Continent
caused dramatic changes in Swedish culture. Nobles of
varying rank who had never left their country before
had now spent much of their lives in Germany. During
the many long lapses in combat, Protestant courts in
Europe became familiar to the Swedish aristocracy, who
began to recognize Sweden's own cultural limitations
and returned home with a commitment to change the
situation.
These same Swedish nobles also returned with mate-
rial manifestations of their enemies' civilization, which
they pillaged whenever it was expedient to do so. The
booty of war was considered the right of any victor in
the seventeenth century. If art lent power and prestige
to a dynasty, a conquering army would naturally try to
capture this source of its enemy's strength. But the
Swedes' victories were so numerous and their appetite
for objects so voracious, that their plundering quickly
tarnished their national reputation. Whether it took the
form of literal reminders of war such as the arms that
Gustavus Adolphus acquired at Mitau (cats. 21, 22), the 6. Axel Oxenstierna by David Beck, 1647-1651, private
paintings and treasures Christina obtained from Prague collection, courtesy Nationalmuseum

19
 7, Triumphal arch built for Queen
Christina's coronation, engraved by
J. Marot after Erik Dahlberg, from Svecia
Antiqua e Hodierna (Stockholm, 1719),
courtesy Nationalmuseum

Richelieu and Mazarin as one of the great chancellors in employed agents throughout Europe to buy art objects
European history, founded his statecraft on the belief for the Royal Collections. She corresponded with Pascal,
that king and nobility should share responsiblity in gov- brought the French philosopher Descartes to Stockholm,
ernment. His views were similar to those of a number of and made the prominent Parisian artist, Sebastian Bour-
other chief ministers in the early 1600s, but few were as don, her court painter. She supported the removal of
successful in implementing their ideas. Oxenstierna and Prague's treasures to Stockholm, and anxiously awaited
the king established a House of Nobles in 1626 to insti- its collection of Italian Renaissance paintings, which she
tutionalize this division of power. They also created came to prefer above all else. The money lavished on
preparatory schools, reorganized Uppsala University, the court rose dramatically during Christina's reign,
and founded a system of appeals courts. And by encour- from 3 percent of royal revenues at the beginning, to
aging foreign capitalists to develop Sweden's rich min- 20 percent at the end. This was financed in large part
ing resources and trading ventures, they established an by the sale of crown lands to the nobles, a practice
economy that could support the war effort. Oxenstierna Oxenstierna recommended.
organized an administration that was so effective in Christina's sense of duty was established in the stoic
running the far-flung empire that it was the model for training of Oxenstierna. By the late 1640s, however, she
later administrative systems such as that of Peter the had decided not to marry, and therefore she would not
Great. During Oxenstierna's regency, Sweden expanded fulfill her ultimate obligation as monarch: producing an
its empire to reach America and Africa, following simi- heir. This fact, combined with her growing disenchant-
lar moves by other European nations. Small settlements ment with the Protestant culture of Sweden, for years
developing tobacco crops in the Delaware Valley and kept her from agreeing to a coronation. But after out-
the slave trade on the coast of West Africa were short- maneuvering Oxenstierna and convincing the Riksdag
lived, but they reflected Sweden's belief in its own capa- to support the choice of her cousin Charles Gustav
bilities at this time and its status as an international, and (1622-1660) as hereditary heir, she could proceed with
now colonial, power. the coronation ritual.
The education the chancellor organized for the young
Christina included languages, art, music, and philoso-
phy. Christina excelled in these pursuits, and she An Empire on the Baltic, 1650-1680
learned to ride and hunt with the best horsemen of her
day. It was Christina, too, who inspired the Swedish The coronation of Queen Christina in 1650 was the
court and its nobility to strive for the highest level of most lavish in Swedish history, and it symbolized the
European culture and intellectual sophistication. She country's new role as the preeminent power in northern

20
Europe, cosignatory of the Peace of Westphalia (fig. 7). ized. The acquisition of lands had a clear purpose: de-
Her regalia included her mother's crown, embellished fensive protection against Sweden's oldest enemy Den-
for the occasion by Jürgen Dargeman, who had suc- mark to the south and west, against the potential threat
ceeded Ruprecht Miller as the leading goldsmith in of Russia in the east, and after 1600, against Poland,
Stockholm (cat. 1). The streets along the route of the whose ruler continued to call himself king of Sweden
royal procession were lined with tapestries, and the well into the seventeenth century. Protection, however,
coaches included one commissioned by the heir appar- was secondary to economic advantage in directing Swe-
ent, Charles Gustav, which was covered with red silk den's policy of acquisition. The rich wheat fields of
and velvet hangings, embroidered with gold and silver Livonia, Skâne, and Blekinge could now be relied upon
(cat. 34). The court favorite, Magnus Gabriel De la Gar- for food both for its own use and for export, and the
die (1622-1686), who had regularly delighted Christina tolls and taxes of the river ports and Baltic channels
by sending her artistic masterpieces from Europe (cat. could go straight into the exchequer.
33), ordered a silver throne from Augsburg that is still Sweden in fact did not take as much land as its mili-
maintained as the Swedish throne of state (Fogelmarck tary successes would have allowed. Gustavus Adolphus
fig. 5). As Christina's heir, Charles rode behind her car- might have seized more territory in Germany (as Riche-
riage on a horse draped with a spectacular gold- and lieu feared he would). Charles XII could have enhanced
sil ver-embroidered caparison (cat. 35). Swedish holdings after his early victories. Several factors
After her coronation Christina began to question the held Sweden back, not the least of which was a keen
Protestantism of her father and her countrymen more awareness of the relative European balance of power at
seriously than she had in the past. To her it represented the time. After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, France
a provincializing, puritanical force, inconsistent with the succeeded Spain and Austria as the premier power in
Italian humanism she found so attractive. She soon be- Europe, while Holland, England, Denmark, and Sweden
gan secret instruction in the Catholic faith with two Jes- formed varying alliances—mindful of France's ambi-
uits sent to Stockholm in disguise by the pope. In 1654 tion—in battles for trade advantages and territorial
Christina shocked Sweden and the world by announc- gains. In these conflicts France and Sweden were often
ing her abdication. In a formal ceremony at Uppsala allied against Holland and Denmark, and usually against
Castle, she took the crown from her own head and pre- the southern Baltic states as well, particularly Branden-
sented her heir to the assembled crowd. Charles X's cor- burg-Prussia. The most significant factor in containing
onation began a few hours later, and Christina soon left Sweden's own ambitions, however, was Dutch sea
Sweden for a new life in Rome. power. The Swedes had failed to produce an effective
After his coronation Charles X engaged his country in navy, despite attempts, and the Baltic could not be fully
a series of wars with Denmark. He eventually over- dominated without one. If Sweden overstepped what
whelmed his foes, and with the Peace of Roskilde in other countries considered its territorial limits, conflicts
1658 forced the Danes to yield their northern provinces might have ensued that Sweden would not have had
and islands in the Baltic. The last significant booty from the resources to win.
the Continent reached Stockholm after this victory, in- Sweden's expansion was also restricted by its small
cluding the great garden sculptures by Adriaan de Vries population, which provided too few people to raise suf-
taken from Frederiksborg Castle and installed at Drott- ficient armies or administer a large empire. Swedish
ningholm (Walton fig. 14). At Charles' death in 1660, armies were often supplemented with mercenary troops,
Sweden's territories encompassed the entire eastern Bal- and they were frequently outnumbered in battle. Their
tic region, the southern provinces of the Swedish penin- successes were due to skilled leadership and the stamina
sula, and the most strategic positions along the southern that such influence inspired in the troops. Swedish dip-
Baltic shore: the profitable port cities at the mouths of lomats used the threat of further war to negotiate
the great German rivers. This disposition of lands would concessions, but in fact the financial and human re-
not change appreciably until the beginning of the next sources of the country could not have sustained vast
century. foreign territories.
Although the term "empire" has been used for the The long regency that followed Charles X's death was
collection of Swedish territories strung along the Baltic an unstable time for the monarchy. The regents of
Sea, a question could be raised as to whether an em- Charles XI (1655-1697), led by Magnus Gabriel De la
pire, in a real sense, was created at all. The idea of a Gardie, took particular care of their own interests, but at
Baltic "lake," dominium maris Baltici, had been men- tremendous costs to the crown. In fact, the 1660s and
tioned in Swedish documents since the early 1600s, but 1670s saw the greatest enrichment of the upper nobility
it was never assumed that all territories surrounding the in Swedish history. Building activity and the importing
sea had to be Swedish for the concept to be fully real- of fashionable goods for the aristocracy were at their

21
 Mazarin sent a suite of Mortlake tapestries to Charles X.
During the regency of Charles XI, De la Gardie contin-
ued to support Sweden's tie to France, and in 1673 the
tie was secured with the most important diplomatic gift
of the seventeenth century. Sweden had joined Holland
and England in an alliance against France in 1668, but
Louis XIV, hoping to enhance his position in the Low-
lands, was anxious for Sweden to change its loyalties
and join him in war against the Dutch and the Danes.
Sweden's recent economizing in military affairs placed it
in no position to take on a conflict at this time. But in
April 1672 De la Gardie persuaded the Swedish Council
of State to sign an agreement with France. The follow-
ing year, to cement the alliance, French diplomats sent
Charles XI twelve of the finest horses from Louis XIV's
stables, spectacularly outfitted with embroidered saddles
and caparisons and accompanied by garnitures of guns
8. Wrangel Palace on Riddarholmen, designed for Count Carl Gustaf and pistols (cats. 51-53).
Wrangel by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, completed 1660. Engraving
by J. Marot after Erik Dahlberg, from Svecia Antiqua e Hodierna,
The alliance with France, which led to Swedish mili-
courtesy Nationalmuseum tary defeats early on, discredited De la Gardie in foreign
affairs, but the ensuing war brought confidence and
fame to the otherwise shy twenty-year-old monarch.
Charles XI was not an articulate leader, but through his
height. European courts known through the German integrity, drive, and bravery in battle he earned the re-
wars, the example of Christina, and the greater promi- spect of the country. With the war going badly on all
nence of Sweden in world affairs gave the nobility a fronts, its southern provinces and Danish and German
taste for opulence and grandeur. De la Gardie along possessions in the hands of Sweden's enemies, the king
with the families of Wrangel, Oxenstierna, Bonde, Sten- chose to stake all on one battle. On 3 December 1676
bach, Piper, and others constructed castles and palaces he attacked Danish lines outside Lund in southern Swe-
with magnificent French gardens throughout the coun- den. The young king's personal leadership of the army's
try. In this atmosphere of money and luxury, many of right wing helped rout the enemy (fig. 9). With France's
the new rich were foreigners: the De Geers, Hamiltons, successes to the south, Sweden recovered all of its lost
Mommas. They all lived so sumptuously and fashion- territories at the peace table.
ably that the late seventeenth century Italian traveler
Lorenzo Magalotti claimed that the architecture of
Stockholm at the time was unmatched outside of
The Age of Autocracy, 1680-1718
Italy (fig. 8).
Until this time, architecture in Sweden had been in- Charles XI returned to Stockholm in triumph, ready to
spired mainly by German examples. Geography, trade, assert his power. The positive features of Louis' absolut-
and religious ties made Germany a natural inspiration ist rule in France were not lost on Charles' personal
for painting, the decorative arts, and fashion as well. In advisors, who were angling against De la Gardie's re-
the mid-1600s France began to supplant Germany as gency council, which still hoped to exert its influence in
the source of artistic inspiration in Sweden. France's Charles' maturity. Charles eventually reclaimed the au-
diplomatic ties to Sweden after 1660 meant that the thority and revenues taken by the regency council. But
French style was openly and quickly received in Stock- absolutism was instituted in Sweden by the consent of
holm. This influence coincided with France's rise to the many. Charles had support for these moves in the
artistic preeminence in Europe, which culminated in the Riksdag from the peasants, burghers, and lower nobility,
1660s when Versailles was enlarged and the Gobelins anxious to see the high aristocracy reduced to its former
workshops began creating furniture, tapestries, silver, state. In the correction that followed, many rich nobles,
and other objects of unprecedented quality. including De la Gardie, lost the estates they had ob-
The close diplomatic ties between Sweden and France tained from the crown over the preceding decades.
are chronicled also in royal gifts during this period. On With the Swedish state on more solid financial
Louis XIU's death, important Italian guns were given to ground, the 1680s and 1690s were among the country's
the young Queen Christina (cat. 29). Some years later most peaceful and prosperous decades. The army be-

22
 9. Battle of Lund, Beauvais tapestry after a design by Johan
Philip Lemke with borders by Jean Berain, 1696, courtesy
Royal Collections

came conscriptive again, well paid, and sufficiently or-

ganized to defend the country. The arts flourished as
well, mainly through the patronage of the dowager
queen, Hedvig Eleonora. Hedvig Eleonora came to
Sweden from Holstein-Gottorp, with her family's taste
for art and collecting, enhanced by her admiration for
Queen Christina, ten years her senior. She was, like
Christina, sensitive to the provincial and often unfash-
ionable character of traditional Swedish culture and was
convinced that the Swedish court should display the
grandeur and richness of a great power. She built mag-
nificent royal palaces in the latest styles, one of which—
Drottningholm, her principal country residence—is
known as Sweden's Versailles. At Ulriksdal, her smaller
country retreat, she installed a treasury to house the
ivory, rock crystal, and enameled objects she collected
in great abundance (cats. 54-59).
Indeed, the artistic atmosphere in Stockholm at the
close of the seventeenth century could not have been
more promising. The empire, while politically fragile,
was still profitable, and the state more financially sound
than it had been in decades. Nicodemus Tessin the
Younger, the court architect (1654-1728) (fig. 10), took
it upon himself to equal the settings and fashions of the
French court, creating an image appropriate to the ruler 10. Nicodemus Tessin the Younger by Georges Desmarées,
of so important a country. In 1696 Tessin asked the re- c. 1720, courtesy Nationalmuseum
nowned French designer Jean Berain for plans for a

23
 the recently deceased king, based on the work of French
sculptor François Girardon and executed by Bernard
Foucquet (see cat. 64).
Sweden, under the artistic impresario Tessin, looked
economically more promising for young artists than
France in the late 1690s, a time when artistic commis-
sions at Versailles were down to a minimum. In 1697
Louis XIV's brother made frequent comments to Swe-
den's envoy Daniel Cronstrôm regarding the poor state
of artistic commissions in France, complimenting Swe-
den on the other hand for being able to afford its ambi-
tious projects. As Cronstrôm reports to Stockholm, "I
find that they [the king's brother and sister-in-law] are
somewhat distressed because we are engaged in so
many great building projects that they are unable to un-
dertake themselves. They recently commissioned twelve
marble vases for Marly, but it was very difficult for
them to arrange."
Charles XII (1682-1718), only fourteen when his
father died, was at the center of these new activities in
the arts. He was close to Tessin and supported the archi-
tect's vision of opulence and grandeur for the capital.
The young king personally reviewed architectural plans
with Tessin, making many suggestions. Unlike his
father, Charles was something of an intellectual, with a
11. Baptismal font for thé Royal Chapel by Jean François Cousinet mathematical mind and a gift for languages and music.
and Bernard Foucquet, silver on wood frame, 1696-1707, courtesy Indeed, the festivals staged in Stockholm during the first
Royal Collections years of Charles XII's reign were a striking departure
from the lack of interest in such entertainments in his
father's time. At the king's request, Tessin organized
theatrical performances, masquerades, and balls, all in
the spirit of the extravaganzas the architect recalled
new state coach. It was completed in Stockholm a few from his study in France. Princesses from all over Eu-
years later, with painted silk interiors still preserved, as- rope passed through Stockholm, hoping to attract the
tonishingly, in their original condition (cat. 61). It was attention of the dashing and spirited young monarch,
also at this time that the French silversmith Jean Fran- but without success. Charles never married. Instead,
çois Cousinet worked with the sculptor Bernard Fouc- he left Stockholm in 1700 two months before his eigh-
quet to produce a silver baptismal font, four feet high teenth birthday, forced into war by a host of European
(fig. 11), which reflected the scale of the silver furniture powers who felt the time was right to pull the territories
cast earlier for Versailles (melted down in January 1690 of Sweden apart, led as it was by an adolescent king.
to help France pay its pressing war debts). Charles XII loved the battlefront and exhibited such
The momentum that Sweden had developed in art bravery in the field that his armies were devoted to him.
patronage during Charles XI's reign is indicated by the After important victories against the Danes in the south,
government's reaction to the terrible fire in Stockholm's the king turned to the east, where Peter the Great had
royal palace as Charles XI lay in state there in 1697. made advances against Swedish provinces on the Baltic.
Rather than linger over the staggering losses (only a few Charles' army was outnumbered in battle, but they de-
of the extraordinary collections, such as the clothes of feated the Russians at Narva against overwhelming
Charles X, were saved), they seized the opportunity to odds. Word of this victory soon resounded throughout
rebuild the palace to the highest contemporary standard. Europe. Charles then turned to Livonia, where for five
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger immediately produced years he fought successfully against Augustus the
plans for a suitably grand residence, designed in a Strong, deposing him in Poland and placing his own
Roman baroque style on the exterior, and finished with candidate, Stanislas Lesczynski, on the throne. Saxon
the latest French refinements on the interior. At the folklore is still rich with tales of the fearlessness and de-
center of the courtyard was to be an equestrian figure of termination of Charles and his troops. Eventually

24
Charles captured Dresden and installed himself in the spring of 1709, Charles XII's army was wiped out by
castle in Altranstádt, in temporary command of the en- the Russians, who now gained access to the Baltic Sea.
tire region. Charles' reputation was at its height in these Charles retreated with the remnants of his army to Tur-
years, from 1706 to 1707. All Europe talked of the key, where he stayed for five years, all the while hoping
young warrior-king, wearing the plain blue uniform of to mount a new offensive against Russia.
his soldiers, displaying no decoration, wearing no wig, In the meantime, Sweden was attacked by its many
sleeping in the simplicity of his soldiers' camp, and other enemies, now poised for the kill. The country ral-
leading them to victory after victory (fig. 12). With this lied. Women and children worked the farms, as men
dedication and feeling of invincibility, Charles made his young and old joined the defense. But little could be
first and fateful mistake. done without the king or sufficient forces, and the suf-
In 1707 Europe wondered where Charles would next fering was enormous. Although Charles reached the
direct his armies. In choosing to move into Russia in Baltic in 1714, after an heroic fourteen-day ride from
pursuit of Peter the Great, Charles' judgment failed him, Turkey, he could not turn the tide of war. His advisors
as would Napoleon's and Hitler's in later centuries. The constantly urged him to cease the fighting in following
Swedish armies won initial victories against the Rus- years, but he persisted, at great expense in lives and
sians in 1708, but the winter of 1708-1709 was brutal. money. Many believe that the bullet that entered
Half the Swedish army starved or froze to death. When Charles' head on a Norwegian campaign in 1718 came
spring finally broke, it was remarkable that there was from a Swedish gun. After the death of Charles XII,
a Swedish army left to fight at all. At Poltava, in the Sweden's overseas territories were divided, and the
country's tenure as one of the great military powers of
Europe came to an end.
Was Sweden's empire on the Baltic so fragile that the
aftermath of one battle, Poltava, could annihilate it? As
we have seen, Sweden's position as a great power had
been built on a foundation of limited resources of both
money and people. It was an empire created primarily
by the will of individuals, the often temperamental but
always exceptional leadership of the Vasa and Pfalz
monarchs, the wise counsel of men such as Axel Oxen-
stierna, and the support of a host of military heroes and
their armies. In some ways, the empire had no justifica-
tion for reaching the size it did, and it ended as it be-
gan, the result of conditions brought on by the character
of one of its leaders.
Charles was a ruler who precipitated an otherwise
avoidable defeat through a belief in his own invincibil-
ity. After many military successes his self-confidence
eclipsed his judgment. There is no doubt, however, that
it was this single-minded sense of purpose that had
pushed Charles and his ancestors to extraordinary mili-
tary achievements in the first place. As we have seen,
these achievements established a significant role for
Sweden in the fabric of European political and cultural
history. That role would change in subsequent years,
but Sweden would never retreat to its former position
as a provincial Baltic state. The traditions, institutions,
and national pride the country acquired during the late
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries would be remem-
bered and revived by its people as the years progressed.
And great works of art and architecture would endure
as a tangible legacy of Sweden's period of dominance in
northern Europe.
12. Charles XII by David Krafft, c. 1704, courtesy
Nationalmuseum

25
Bibliography

Bengtsson, Frans G. The Sword Does Not Test: The Life of Roberts, Michael. The Early Vasas: A History of Sweden, 1523-
Charles XII King of Sweden, 1697-1718. London, 1960. 1617. Cambridge, 1968.
Christina of Sweden: A Personality of European Civilization. Na- Roberts, Michael. The Swedish Imperial Experience, 1560-1718.
tionalmusei utstallningskatalog 305. Stockholm, 1966. London and New York, 1973.
Clarke, M. L. "The Making of a Queen: The Education of Roberts, Michael, ed. Sweden's Age of Greatness, 1632-1718.
Christina of Sweden." History Today 28 (1978):228-235. London and New York, 1973.
Deny, T. K. A History of Scandinavia. Minneapolis, 1979. Sandstrôm, Birgitta. "The Renaissance" and "The Baroque."
Elstob, Eric. Sweden: A Political and Cultural History. Haverhill, In A History of Swedish Art. Edited by M. Lindgren, et al.
England, 1979. Stockholm, 1987.
Hatton, Ragnhild M. Charles XII of Sweden. London, 1968. Stolpe, Sven. Christina of Sweden. London, 1966.
Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta. The School of Prague. Chicago Trevor-Roper, Hugh. The Plunder of Arts in the Seventeenth Cen-
and London, 1988. tury. Norwich, England, 1970.
Lisk, Jill. The Struggle for Supremacy in the Baltic, 1600-1725. Voltaire, François M. A. de. History of Charles XII, King of Swe-
London Historical Studies 3. London, 1967. den. 1731.
Masson, Georgina. Queen Christina. London, 1968. Von Platen, Magnus, ed. Queen Christina: Documents and Stud-
Roberts, Michael. Gustavus Adolphus: A History of Sweden, ies. Nationalmusei skriftserie, no. 12. Stockholm, 1966.
1611-1632. 2 vols. London, 1953, 1958. Walton, Guy, et al. Versailles à Stockholm. Nationalmuseums
Roberts, Michael. Essays in Swedish History. London and Min- Skriftserie, NS5. Stockholm, 1985.
neapolis, 1967.

26
 Swedish Royal Heritage:
The Royal Armory, the Royal Collections, and
the Nationalmuseum
Stig Fogelmarck

T HE SWEDES WHO went ashore in Delaware in 1638

had left behind them a native country that had
undergone an extraordinary transition in the last
with two swords of state preserved from the reign of
Gustav Vasa, form the core of the Swedish royal regalia,
which in terms of both quality and quantity is one of
hundred years. From a politically unstable feudal state, the most outstanding in the world. The collection in-
it had developed into a centrally governed nation. cludes a second royal crown (cat. 1), made about fifty
Mainly through the successes of Gustavus Adolphus in years after the coronation of Erik XIV, that is directly
the Thirty Years War, it had also attained—over and associated with the period of Sweden's rise as a great
above its internal stability1—the status of a political and power. It was made in Stockholm for Gustavus Adol-
military power on the continent of Europe. The new na- phus' consort Maria Eleonora, princess of Brandenburg,
tion was born in 1521 when Gustav Vasa, at the head who wore it at her coronation in Stockholm's great ca-
of a peasant army, settled accounts with the country's thedral, the Storkyrkan, in November 1620. It was ele-
foreign masters—more specifically, with Christian II of vated to the dignity of royal (i.e., regal) crown in 1650,
Denmark. Gustav Vasa was proclaimed king of Sweden when Queen Christina wore it at her own coronation.
in 1523. She enhanced its splendor partly by adding new gold
The consolidation of the Swedish kingdom and estab- arches. One of the most distinctive items of the regalia
lishment of a hereditary monarchy by Gustav Vasa in on display here is the elegant anointing horn made in
1544 made possible the development of a Continental- 1606 by the Swedish goldsmith Peter Kempe for the
style royal court, that is, a setting in which the proce- coronation of Charles IX (cat. 3).
dures of official ceremony and everyday royal living Sweden's regalia, unlike those of several other coun-
could be invested with dignity, comfort, and aesthetic tries, are state property, and the Swedish financial ad-
qualities imitating the highest standards of the time. ministration, through its subordinate authorities, has
Burdened by practical political problems, Gustav Vasa jealously guarded these property rights ever since the
had little time to spare for cultivating the arts. But his sixteenth century. Various safe deposits have been used
son Erik already aspired, as heir apparent, to an opu- over the centuries, and until as recently as 1970, these
lence in striking contrast to the plainer habits of his articles of outstanding beauty and historical interest
father. Musicians, artists, and craftsmen were always to were all hidden in the deep vaults of the Bank of
be found at his court. Sweden. The active support given by the present king's
Erik's coronation in 1561 represented his first oppor- grandfather, Gustav VI Adolph, made it possible that
tunity to confirm the status of the Vasa dynasty in vi- year to open a fitting but secure public display at the
sible terms, and the trappings produced for the occasion Royal Palace in Stockholm. The Swedish regalia now
included the priceless regalia that even today are the form an impressive exhibition there, to the delight of
foremost symbols of the Swedish monarchy: the royal scholars and the general public. Many museums had
crown, scepter, orb, and key of state. These, together vied with one another for the privilege of displaying the
regalia, but all such ideas were rejected in view of the
character of the objects as national symbols. Once the
1. Drottningholm Palace, courtesy Royal Collections Riksdag (Parliament) decided to put the regalia on per-

29
manent exhibition, the Royal Palace seemed the only
possible setting.
Gustav Vasa established an armory at Stockholm's
royal castle that resembled, though on a more modest
scale, the many famous royal and imperial Renaissance
arsenals in other European capitals—Vienna, Dresden,
Moscow, Madrid. Like some of these institutions, the
Swedish Royal Armory changed character at an early
stage in its history. Starting as a depot for arms and ar-
mory in actual use—part of the monarch's personal
equipment for defense and for official ceremonies—it
became a repository for items that were no longer in
use but had assumed significance as historic national
relics and treasures. It thereby assumed an importance
as a means of perpetuating and glorifying the memory
of turning points in the history of the nation or of the
reigning dynasty. The collections of the Royal Armory,
unlike the regalia, were not hidden away in vaults, but
were soon opened to the general public, no doubt for
propaganda reasons. Like the armories of many other
countries, this institution became part of the first gener-
ation of European museums.
It was Gustav Vasa's grandson, Gustavus Adolphus,
who endowed the Royal Armory with its status as a na-
tional "memorial museum" by ordaining that certain
parts of the royal arsenal should be put on public dis-
play. That order was issued after a campaign in Poland
in 1627—1628, when the king had twice been seriously
wounded. The clothes he had worn on these two his- 2. Suit of clothes worn by Gustavus Adolphus during the storming of
toric occasions were given to the Royal Armory in "per- the Kleinwerder bastion near Danzig (Gdansk) on 24 May 1627.
Doublet of slashed silver silk satin, and knee breeches of gray cloth.
petual memory" of the events and were exhibited there Damaged by a bullet, which hit the king in the back as he crossed
together with earlier mementos (figs. 2 and 3). the Vistula River, and stained with the king's blood. Courtesy Royal
By that time, the arsenal had already accumulated a Armory
large number of remarkable exhibits, including the cere-
monial suits of armor worn by the first Vasa monarchs
and their families. In the present exhibition, this earliest
Vasa material is represented by the magnificent suit of Swedish monarchs and their families have been contin-
armor decorated in Antwerp in 1562 by Eliseus Libaerts uously added to the collections of the Royal Armory. As
for Erik XIV (cat. 6). Gustav Vasa's own dramatically a result, this institution has attained, even by interna-
designed mask visor and his personal sword are also on tional standards, a unique position as a museum of
display (cats. 4 and 5). costume history. Its collections include, for example, a
There was more to Gustavus Adolphus' decision to perfectly preserved wardrobe belonging to Queen Chris-
make the contents of the Royal Armory accessible to the tina's cousin and successor Charles X. This comprises no
public than a desire to underscore particular fateful fewer than thirty complete costumes, the most magnifi-
events in the brief history of the Vasa dynasty. His con- cent of which, ordered in Paris for a coronation of
cern for such memorials also testifies to a realization of either 1650 or 1654, is included in this exhibition (cat.
the value of cultural heritage, as both a political and an 41). This costume, of gold lamé and velvet, lavishly em-
historical force. His desire to foster the national heritage broidered with gold, was worn by the king for the coro-
was manifested on many occasions, and very palpably nation banquet at Uppsala Castle on 6 June 1654. Dur-
in the far-sighted instructions for preserving and cata- ing the religious ceremony in Uppsala Cathedral, he had
loguing remains of the past that he issued for the office followed the tradition of being dressed all in white. That
of the first Swedish antiquary of tjie realm. costume also survives.
From the time of Gustavus Adolphus down to the Not least instructive to the costume historian are the
present, costumes and other valuable souvenirs of many children's clothes, which bear dramatic witness to

30
 sions. The dazzling saddle fittings made by the gold-
smith Ruprecht Miller for Charles IX's coronation horse
will serve in this exhibition to illustrate the high stan-
dards of artistry and craftsmanship that could be at-
tained in these ceremonial trappings in the seventeenth
century (cat. 10).
The young, culturally minded Vasa court lacked one
ingredient supremely typical of the time: an art gallery
and treasure chamber of the kind developed, with var-
ious degrees of extravagance, at many of the old Euro-
pean courts. One feels it should have come naturally to
Erik XIV to establish a prestigious treasury. Great art
collections were formed at the courts of Vienna, Mun-
ich, and Dresden about this time. But conditions there
were vastly different from those prevailing at the court
in Stockholm, on the outskirts of Europe. Continental
collections were formed in cultural environments with
abundant tradition, by members of ancient, firmly estab-
lished ruling houses. The new Swedish dynasty was
rooted in a comparatively primitive environment; and
during his brief reign, Erik was fully occupied trying to
put together a court bearing some resemblance to its
foreign prototypes. To our knowledge, not even his im-
mediate successors—his brother John III, John's son
Sigismund, or Erik's youngest brother Charles IX—had
3. Suit of clothes worn by Gustavus Adolphus at Dirchau, where he
any thoughts of establishing an art gallery.
was wounded on 8 August 1627. Buff elk skin coat with gray We have already noted Gustavus Adolphus' commit-
breeches. Blood-stained from the wound the king received in the neck ment to fostering Sweden's cultural heritage. We know
near the right shoulder. Courtesy Royal Armory
too that he was genuinely fond of music and the arts.
This being so, his contact with a number of established
European cultural centers must have made a great
impression on him. Rich monastic libraries and princely
art galleries would have stimulated the aesthetic sense
of this vital monarch and may have aroused a hunger
for collecting that was gratified by plunder during the
Swedish army's forays through German lands. Gustavus
the severe demands of fashion on the infant children of Adolphus also acquired many beautiful and remarkable
royalty. The present exhibition includes one of the most objects as gifts bestowed on him by the German towns
typical children's costumes in the Royal Armory: a frock in which he was received as the champion and defender
of purple-dyed gold brocade worn by Charles X's son, of Protestantism. The most outstanding of these was
the four-year-old Charles XI, when he made his first ap- presented by the city of Augsburg in April 1632: a mon-
pearance before the Riksdag after his father's death in umental "art cabinet" assembled between 1625 and
1660 to receive the homage due him as the succeeding 1631 by a well-known cabinetmaker of the time, the art
monarch (cats. 46-49). dealer and diplomat Philip Hainhofer (fig. 4). With its
In addition to the steady influx of mementos of indi- incredible diversity of content, including everything
vidual royal or nonroyal personages, the Royal Armory from precious works of craftsmanship to sophisticated
has acquired a number of important groups of objects musical instruments, from scientific instruments to gro-
that have enhanced its display of Swedish historical tra- tesque curiosities, this Renaissance "art cabinet," might
ditions. The Royal Wardrobe, with its abundant stock of well be characterized as a world in miniature. Consid-
uniforms and accessories relating to the royal family and ered as much a vehicle of instruction as a work of art,
court, was one major acquisition of this kind. Another the cabinet was eventually donated by Charles XI to
was the Royal Stables, the carriages, coaches, and har- Uppsala University.
nesses of which reveal the splendor of the royal family's In the present exhibition, Gustavus Adolphus' collec-
appearances on both ceremonial and everyday occa- tion is represented by the gift he received on his entry

31
 For all the notable objects added to the collections in
Stockholm during the early Vasa period, it is not until
the reign of Queen Christina that we can speak of an art
gallery in the Continental sense. Through her diverse
talents, her intellectual vitality, and her great devotion
to art, Christina dramatically elevated Stockholm from a
provincial capital to a leading center of culture and the
arts. This represented, in the intellectual sphere, a con-
summation of her father's achievement, whereby the
name of the Swedish capital had been firmly imprinted
on the political map of Europe. Leading scholars vied
with one another for invitations to the court of Chris-
tina in the remote city of Stockholm. And we know that
the queen's correspondence with the most eminent
scholars of the time was both voluminous and varied.
Quite early in her reign, Christina acquired represen-
tatives to help in building up her art collections, and her
passion for collecting only grew stronger with the pass-
ing of years. The capture of Prague by the Swedes in
1648 made all the difference in the subsequent growth
of the royal collections in Stockholm. It was in July of
that year that a contingent from the Swedish army
seized Prague's royal fortress of the Hradschin, the con-
tents of which included the famous art gallery of Em-
peror Rudolph II. A dispatch was immediately posted,
informing the queen that the art gallery had been en-
tered and an inventory made. As soon as the news
reached her, she replied in a letter to the supreme com-
mander, her cousin and successor Charles X: "Songe
aussi, ie vous prie, de me conserver et m'envoyer la
bibliothèque et les raretés qui se trouvent à Prag; vous
savez que ce sont les seules choses dont ie fais estime"
(And be sure, I entreat you, to preserve and send me
the library and the curiosities found in Prague; you
know they are the only things I value). The rare books
and works of art were carried from Prague to Stock-
holm in the worst possible winter conditions, but by
June 1649 everything was safely installed. The queen
must have spent many happy hours studying at first
4. Art cabinet of Gustavus Adolphus, made by Philip Hainhofer in hand all these treasures, which at one blow invested
Augsburg, 1625-1631, University Collections, Uppsala, courtesy Royal
Collections the collections of Stockholm's Royal Palace with a
new brilliance.
An inventory from 1652 conveys some idea of the
character and extent of Queen Christina's collection:
into the city of Nuremberg on 31 March 1632: two 179 works of ivory, 26 of amber, 25 of coral, 660 orna-
enormous goblets of partly gilt silver (cat. 24). One of mental vessels of agate, rock crystal, and other mate-
these takes the form of Hercules carrying the earth on rials, 174 items of pottery and a large table service, 403
his shoulders. The other represents Atlas carrying the East Indian curios, 2 ebony cabinets with gold and sil-
celestial globe. Both goblets are the work of the Nurem- ver inlay, 16 precious clocks, various works of precious
berg silversmiths Christoph Jamnitzer and Jeremias stones, several boxes of uncut diamonds, 317 mathe-
Ritter. The globes are exquisitely engraved and signed matical instruments. All these riches came from Prague.
by Johan Hauer with a Greco-Latin inscription telling us To this very substantial collection were added the inher-
that the work was done "in the famous city of Nurem- itance from her father, costly presents from native and
berg in 1620." foreign donors, and last but not least, everything pur-

32
chased on the queen's own orders, that is, through Pie-
ter Spiering, her personal representative at The Hague.
Prominent among the many works of ivory that Spier-
ing added to the queen's art gallery is a magnificent salt
cellar made for Peter Paul Rubens by Georg Petel, a
sculptor of south German birth. Petel is represented in
this exhibition by a bronze bust of Christina's father,
Gustavus Adolphus—a portrait made in Nuremberg not
long before the king's death in 1632 (cat. 25). Her court
favorite, Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, commissioned a
silver throne from Augsburg for her coronation, which
still holds a special significance as the traditional throne
of state (fig. 5).
The loot from Prague also included a great number of
paintings and sculptures, with famous works by such
artists as Veronese and Correggio. Christina took a large
proportion of these treasures to Rome with her when
she left Sweden after her abdication in 1654, including
several items that belonged to the nation. Works that
were not allowed to leave the country included the re-
galia and the magnificent suite of woven tapestries or-
dered from Holland as part of the festive setting for
Christina's coronation. After Christina's death, her vast
collections were dispersed. The antiquities are now in
the Prado Museum, the manuscripts are in the Vatican,
and the paintings are scattered in museums all over
Europe and the United States.
Charles X, who succeeded Christina in 1654, was not
much of a collector, but by effectively "saving" works of
art during his various campaigns, he did a great deal to
augment the royal collections. Perhaps his most impor-
tant contribution toward the furnishing of Sweden's
palaces and collections, however, was his marriage to
Princess Hedvig Eleonora, who came from the north
German duchy of Holstein-Gottorp. This energetic
queen took a keen interest in the design and beautifica-
tion of the royal residences, partly influenced perhaps
by her father, the connoisseur Duke Frederick III. In the
course of a long and active life, she did full justice to 5. Coronation throne of Queen Christina, commissioned by Magnus
her plans, through numerous building enterprises, eager Gabriel De la Gardie from Abraham Drentwett of Augsburg, 1650,
patronage of the visual arts, and untiring acquisition of courtesy Royal Collections
new articles for her treasury collection.
Thanks to the exhaustive inventories compiled after
Queen Hedvig Eleonora's death in 1715, we know
much about the scope and character of her collections.
Most of the exhibits in the Royal Treasury today origi- stone, and enamel mountings (cat. 59). This was proba-
nally came from residences she furnished. The most val- bly made in Milan during the early seventeenth century.
uable of her possessions, including articles of precious Additional collections were housed at Hedvig Eleonora's
metal and stone, were kept at Ulriksdal. The present ex- favorite residence, Drottningholm, a baroque palace on
hibition includes the oldest item in the surviving collec- the grand scale designed by the queen's architect Nico-
tion, an agate bowl from late antiquity, with mountings demus Tessin the Elder (see fig. 1). The main emphasis
of a later date (cat. 58). Another elegant survival from there was on pottery, mostly from East Asia and
the queen's collections—also included in the exhibi- Holland.
tion—is a tankard of rock crystal with gold, precious Tradition has often held that the Swedish royal collec-

33
tions of the seventeenth century mainly consisted of Paris, he came into close contact with French artists and
plunder, but this is a great exaggeration and as far as art dealers. A discerning knowledge coupled with ample
Hedvig Eleonora is concerned, quite misleading. She im- finances enabled him to build up a magnificent collec-
ported a great many of the items from Italy and Hol- tion of paintings, drawings, and prints. He combined
land, but she also did business with those art dealers this with art inherited from his father to form one of the
who ventured as far afield as Sweden. Native craftsmen, largest private collections ever known in Sweden. When
too, received commissions from the queen. For example, in later life financial worries forced him to part with
a skilled ebony turner was attached to Hedvig Eleo- most of his treasures, they were acquired by the royal
nora's court, as contemporary fashion demanded. He family and, through Gustav III, became the property of
had the dual task of supplying the queen with works of the nation.
art and teaching his difficult trade to the royal children. With the Tessin collection, the royal museum ac-
Exercises of this kind, being such a trial to the patience quired a collection of drawings, predominantly of the
of the practitioner, were greatly valued as a form of Italian, Dutch, and French schools, that is of an interna-
moral education. tionally high standard. Particular interest attaches to the
Ulrika Eleonora the Younger, granddaughter of Hed- drawings relating to French architecture, interior design,
vig Eleonora and sister of Charles XII, constitutes the and drama. The Tessin material was subsequently aug-
final link in this chain of royal Swedish art collectors. mented through the acquisition of the great collections
With her, in the early eighteenth century, we come to formed by eighteenth-century architects Carl Hârleman
the end of a long and important tradition, the origins of and Carl Johan Cronstedt, making the Nationalmuseum
which can be traced back to the intellectual world of an indispensable quarry for scholars, not least as regards
the Renaissance courts of Europe. the history of the French royal residences. In this exhi-
The Royal Treasury collections are now the property bition the Tessin material is represented by drawings by
of the Swedish nation. Unfortunately, though, the mate- Jean Berain for Charles XI's state coach, built in Paris in
rial—which in the nineteenth century was gathered in 1696 and still surviving in the Royal Armory (cat. 63).
the Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm—is The objects from Swedish royal collections on view in
now divided between a number of different institutions. this exhibition are intended to help American visitors
A vast and very representative section, from which sev- survey a fascinating chapter in the cultural history of
eral of the objects here have been taken, is administered northern Europe. The underlying theme of the exhibi-
by the Royal Collections and is kept on display in the tion—art as a representation of politics and propa-
Charles XI Gallery at Stockholm's Royal Palace. Other ganda—is most singularly expressed in the objects made
parts of the collection have been transferred to the before the time of Queen Christina: the coronation and
Royal Armory, the Nordic Museum, and the National- burial regalia of Charles IX, the Libaerts armor of
museum. Erik XIV, and Nuremberg's gift of Christoph Jamnitzer's
The Nationalmuseum, like the Royal Armory, was globes to Gustavus Adolphus were all closely related to
established through royal initiative. Gustav III had sug- the political ceremonies and military victories of the
gested the idea, and the decision to found what was Swedish crown. During and after Christina's reign, the
then called the Royal Museum was made in 1792, collecting of works of art by the royal family began to
shortly after the king's death. Two years later the mu- reflect increasingly humanistic interests. Art acquisition
seum was opened, in one wing of the Royal Palace. It is began to be based on the personal taste of cultivated in-
thus Sweden's oldest public art museum and the first dividuals, as well as on its function as state propaganda.
institution of its kind outside Italy. Christina and her successors, particularly Charles X's
The core of its collection consisted of earlier royal col- dowager queen Hedvig Eleonora, brought new insights
lections, dating as far back as the sixteenth century. to the buying and commissioning of works of art, show-
Items from the imperial collections seized in Prague also ing a full knowledge of the contemporary court culture
remained, although the most valuable, as we have al- of Europe. And Charles XI and Charles XII sought the
ready seen, were taken to Rome by Christina. Great advice of experts, royal architects, and tastemakers, such
paintings by Boucher and Chardin were added by as the Nicodemus Tessins, whose professional duty was
Queen Lovisa Ulrika and King Frederick. But the most to be fully informed of developments in the arts
important section of the first museum's collections was throughout Europe. Stockholm at the end of Sweden's
assembled by one man, Count Carl Gustav Tessin, son period of great power became, if only briefly, one of the
of the architect of the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Nico- preeminent centers of artistic creativity of Europe.
demus Tessin the Younger, and one of the leading poli- When a small nation like Sweden presents some of its
ticians and cultural personalities in eighteenth-century royal collections to the American public, many people
Sweden. During his years as Swedish ambassador in may assume that the material comes from just one

34
source. This is not the case. The Swedish Royal Collec-
tions represent several institutions of varying age and
character, each of which evolved as part of the royal ad-
ministration, in some cases enshrining significant phases
of Sweden's historical and cultural development. All
these institutions, while reflecting aspects of Sweden's
history, still retain some of their original purpose. And
in keeping with the demands of a new age, they exist
for the gratification and benefit of the entire Swedish
people.
 Royal Castles and Palaces:
The Architectural Image of the
Monarchy in Sweden
Guy Walton

T HE MONUMENTAL CENTER of Stockholm is dominated

by an enormous building set on a hill (fig. 1).
Though unobtrusively colored brown, with its window
This compromise of royal authority was not new. It
had been a fundamental issue of Swedish politics since
the founding of the modern Swedish state in the six-
frames, portals, and other ornament in similarly subtle teenth century. The four estates of parliament—and
tones of beige or gray, the structure almost overwhelms most particularly the nobles—had repeatedly challenged
its surroundings. In addition to its immense size and royal attempts to establish absolute rule. And one arena
rather severe character, its setting contributes signifi- of competition had been in architecture and the arts.
cantly to the impact of this building. An expanse of Nobles and even merchants had at various times built
water to the east and northeast allows two of its long sumptuous houses to rival that of the king.2 The Stock-
sides to be taken in at one time, revealing its vast di- holm palace may actually have been intended as the
mensions. This is Stockholm's Royal Palace. final, supreme gesture in this competition.
Visitors to Stockholm are often surprised at the size Stockholm's Royal Palace is not simply a declaration
of the royal residence. Sweden is, after all, a country of royal authority, however. It has a long and compli-
whose territory lies mostly in the great empty north- cated history.3 Although the present building was
lands, with a small population even today. When the planned under autocratic monarchs, the financial disas-
palace was built, Sweden had less than a million inhab- ters of the wars of Charles XII brought work on it to a
itants. But the country at that time also ruled present- halt from 1707 until 1727. The palace was finished in
day Finland and substantial domains along the Baltic what is called the "Era of Freedom," a period when the
coast—Estonia, Livonia, western Pomerania—and a Swedish monarchs had been relieved of their power in
number of smaller territories. The building was con- the wake of the defeat of Charles XII by Peter the Great.
ceived as the capitol of an empire, a small empire per- The decision of parliament in 1727 to grant money for
haps, but impressive and profitable just the same. The work underscores a second equally important meaning
great powers of Europe were in fear of Sweden's mili- of the building for Sweden. The palace was completed
tary strength. because its looming unfinished hulk had disfigured
The political message of the palace has always been Stockholm for three decades and Sweden wanted to
understood by the Swedes. In the last century when a rival Europe in the area of the arts. The greatest painters
new structure was built to house the Swedish parlia- of the period, such as the Venetians Tiepolo and
ment (the Riksdag), it was raised on a small island di- Piazzetta, were sought for the decoration of a palace
rectly in front of the palace's looming north facade.1 that was to be the residence of almost powerless kings
Located to one side of the road leading across the water and queens.4
from the north entrance of the palace to Gustavus Adol- Nicodemus Tessin's original drawings make clear that
phus' Square, parliament stood directly before the eyes the Royal Palace was intended from the start to demon-
of the king. strate that Swedish designers had arrived at the point
where they could avail themselves of the great artistic
traditions of Italy and France. The north facade is fre-
1. Royal Palace, Stockholm, courtesy Gôsta Glasé quently compared to an Italian palace (art historians

37
have specifically mentioned Vignola's Villa Farnese at against foreign attack—particularly invasion by the
Caprarola and certain projects by Bernini's student Fon- Danes, who challenged his right to the throne. Castles
tana). 5 A grand gallery on the interior dedicated to the were built or rebuilt in the two principal cities of the
exploits of Charles XI (figs. 2 and 17) was clearly in- realm, Stockholm and Uppsala, as well as on the west
spired by the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Tessin's pal- coast at Àlvsborg, the east coast at Kalmar and Borg-
ace is a bold statement of Sweden's intention to become holm, and at Vadstena in central Sweden.
a European leader in the arts, just as Sweden's kings in The typical Vasa castle consisted of four tremendous
the seventeenth century had made the country a great round towers joined either by walls or by buildings that
European political power. could serve for military purposes or lodgings for king
Since the glory of monarchs was thought to be di- and court, with the giant towers built in response to
rectly reflected in the buildings they constructed—even new sixteenth-century firearms and cannons. In Stock-
more than in their life-styles or the trappings of their holm, even the apse of the Storkyrkan (Great Church)
courts—the building activities of the Swedish kings and was pulled down to make room for expanded modern
queens provide background necessary for an under- fortifications for the castle. Some castles eventually
standing of the development of the arts in Sweden dur- functioned primarily as administrative centers and resi-
ing the period surveyed by this exhibition.6 Certain dences and were consequently invested with grand pub-
Swedish monarchs, including some who were enthu- lic rooms, such as the Hall of State at Uppsala (now,
siastic collectors of treasure and arms, were also great since a fire in the eighteenth century, hardly more than
builders. And royal architects served at various times as a vast space to reflect something of the scale of its past
general purveyors of ideas on culture and style far be- glory).
yond their particular area of professional competence.7 Gripsholm Castle at Mariefred not far from Stockholm
The objects on view in this exhibition were for the on Lake Màlaren is the best preserved of Gustav Vasa's
most part acquired for and shown in various palaces of castles and remains even today a royal domain contain-
the Swedish monarchs.8 Some were undoubtedly pur- ing important objects from the royal collections.9 The
chased for use in one specific location. An evocation of name of this castle commemorates Bo Jonsson Grip, a
the early settings thus clarifies some of the purposes for nobleman of great wealth who built an early fortress on
which these works of art and armor were chosen. the spot in the 1380s. In fact, some of the walls of the
The founder of the present Swedish state, King Gus- medieval fortress were incorporated into the present
tav Vasa, created the type of monumental Swedish royal buildings. The profile of Gripsholm seen from the water
residence with which the objects in the exhibition must (fig. 3) is characteristic of Gustav Vasa's architectural
be associated. He built a string of castles across Sweden achievements. Henrik von Côllen, who drew up the first
as a part of a necessary effort to secure the country plans for this castle in 1537, was both a foreigner, prob-

2. Charles XI Crowned by Fame while Cleo, Muse

of History, Records His Actions, sculptural
decoration by René Chauveau and others for
the ceiling of the Gallery of Charles XI,
executed c. 1699, Royal Palace, courtesy Royal
Collections

38
3. Gripsholm Castle, engraving from Svecia Antiqua e Hodierna
(Stockholm, 1719), courtesy Nationalmuseum

ably from East Prussia, and a military engineer.10 only a decade or so after the death of Gustav Vasa for
The interior of Gripsholm has not survived, but an one of his sons (later Charles IX). This cozy room, with
idea of its original splendor is conveyed by a ceiling of three deep window niches, including one with a bed
1543 by Anders Larsson Mâlare (reputedly a student of built into the wall, has walls covered with high panel-
Cranach) for the king's bedroom, now in a different lo- ing. The paneling is articulated with pilasters and arches
cation. 11 It is elegantly coffered in a complex pattern of based on classical Renaissance types, suggesting that the
hexagons and squares, with its ornamental painting in Renaissance had established itself by the 1570s even in
the more or less contemporary German mode. The por- the distant north. Motifs in the decorations are based on
traits and half-figures in the coffers are based on six- prints by Cornelis Floris and Vredeman de Vries, Flem-
teenth-century German prints, including one by Hein- ish artists. The painted decoration is in tempera directly
rich Aldegrever. on the wood and, though not very refined, is a charm-
Research by Swedish art historians has permitted the ing combination of flower bouquets, putti, and other
reconstruction on paper of the Great Room of Grips- ornament.13
holm,12 with a state chair at the head of the room. The It was Eric XIV and John III, Gustav Vasa's sons and
ceiling was coffered somewhat in the manner of the one heirs, who settled down to the business of creating an
mentioned above; and the side walls, lined with built-in architectural environment for the Swedish royal family
benches, were penetrated on one side with small win- to rival that of the nearer Continental sovereigns, most
dows. The main feature of the room was a series of notably the Danes and the Germans. The standard of
large paintings in the upper half called Gustav Vasa's the time in this part of the Continent had been set by
triumph pictures, which may have illustrated, in life- the courts of the Holy Roman emperors at Vienna and
sized figures, events from the king's life. About half of Prague and that of Francis I at Fontainebleau, the latter
these ambitious compositions are known from eight- known mostly at second and third hand through French
eenth-century watercolors now in Sweden's Royal Li- engravings and the adaptation of their style by some of
brary. This interior resembled a luxurious German the German court artists.14 The influence of the Nether-
princely room of the period. lands, where fine craftsmen and painters were unusually
The major surviving Vasa interior at Gripsholm is a abundant, was particularly important for design devel-
semicircular bedroom in one of the towers known as opments in Sweden. The recruitment and training of ar-
Duke Charles' Chamber (fig. 4). It is in fact the best- tists abroad makes this clear.15
preserved room in Sweden from Vasa times, redecorated Erik's considerable success in design can be gauged by

39
4. Duke Charles' Chamber, Gripsholm Castle, courtesy Royal
Collections

5. King Erik's Chamber, Kalmar Castle, courtesy Kalmar

Làns Museum

an important surviving (though much-restored) room at metric shapes and proportions predominate in the deco-
Kalmar Castle, one of Gustav Vasa's great fortresses, ration at Kalmar, whereas organic motifs distinguish the
which was also the sometime residence of Erik and later ornament at Gripsholm. The patterns in Erik's bedroom
of his half-brother John. This room, now known as are elegant and complex, with spatial illusionism shown
King Erik's Chamber (fig. 5), is close in time to Duke in the inlay; the principal panel areas are decorated
Charles' Chamber at Gripsholm (fig. 4) (Charles' room, with the mannerist strapwork invented at Fontaine-
surprisingly, is a bit later), but the two are so different bleau.
as to suggest different countries and cultures. The rough The reliefs of hunting scenes in Óland that run
stone ceiling at Gripsholm has as its counterpart a around the upper part of King Erik's Chamber are in
grandly coffered ceiling, basically of Italian inspiration, the latest style and recall less the works of the German
with rich wood inlay and gilded sculptural ornament. painters preferred by Gustav Vasa than Flemish tapes-
Though invested with a similarly high wainscoting, tries, which they were undoubtedly supposed to imitate.
Erik's room is lavishly decorated with wood inlay, in The gold, bright colors, and extravagant complexity of
contrast to Charles' room, with its simple painted de- the ornament approaches the contemporary style of the
signs. Since Erik, a real Renaissance prince—poet, musi- Habsburg emperors, and leaves completely behind most
cian, and artist—is said to have done wood inlay, parts of the local decorative traditions evident at Gripsholm.
of these decorations have even been ascribed to him.16 It Since Erik's reign proved to be a short one—he was
is the character of the ornament, however, that makes deposed for madness in 1568—it fell to his brother and
for the greatest difference between these interiors. Geo- successor, John III, to pursue developments in the arts

40
he had begun. John continued the work at Kalmar, masonry walls (some twenty feet thick and still existing
making it today the greatest surviving Renaissance pal- to a height of twenty feet) were incorporated into later
ace in Sweden. But his most important achievement versions of the Three Crowns Castle and were used by
was the rebuilding of the Three Crowns Castle in Stock- Tessin to support the great northern front of today's
holm (fig. 6). Three Crowns stood precisely on the spot Royal Palace.18
where the Royal Palace stands today, and it was, as it The arrangement of Birger Jarl's Stockholm castle was
had been for centuries, the premier residence of the the traditional one. The keep, which contained the resi-
Swedish kings. dence of the monarch, was surrounded by vast utility
The prestige of Three Crowns dated well back into the courts, used both for the military and for the practical
medieval period. At its origins, possibly as early as the needs of the king (the present palace's north facade
ninth century, it had been a fortress on the small island marks one side of one of these). At Stockholm the keep
in front of the present palace, where the nineteenth- was a large round tower that stood on a hill enclosed
century parliament building stands today.17 The fort's by the castle walls about thirty feet above the nearby
importance was related to the trade between the large water. Over the years it continued to be regarded as the
inland waterway, Lake Mâlaren, and the Baltic Sea, center of the castle. The name "Three Crowns" that was
which afforded the possibility of exporting natural re- eventually given to the castle apparently derived from
sources such as iron and copper ore. It was on this eco- the three gold crowns mounted on the castle tower,
nomic strength that the power of a number of Swedish which are also represented on the arms of Sweden.
kings had been based, and the location came to be These crowns were probably put up during the four-
closely associated with the Swedish crown. teenth century. They are clearly visible in the Parhelion
The transition from a small fortress to a great medie- painting of 1535, on view today in the neighboring
val castle was accomplished around 1250, when mas- Storkyrkan (see also fig. 6). The tower was surrounded
sive walls were constructed just outside the northern by a square building that often housed the actual royal
wall of the city of Stockholm by Birger Jarl, regent in residence and separated the tower from the utility courts
Sweden from 1250 to 1266. Parts of Birger Jarl's thick that lay to the north and the east.

6. John III lying in state in the courtyard of

Three Crowns Castle, with funeral proces-
sion of 1592 in background, engraving by
Hieronymus Niitzel, 1593, courtesy Royal
Library, Stockholm

41
 It is not clear what state the Three Crowns Castle was
in when John III took possession of it. Frequent fires
had ravaged the buildings over the years. As recently as
1525 the damage had been so extensive that Gustav
Vasa spoke of being left with "but a shirt and a silver
tankard to drink from." During Gustav's reign the royal
accommodations had at least been restored, no doubt
comfortably. The king's apartment was notable for its
unusual privacy. Records also speak of a "dancing
house" and separate quarters for the royal children, but
the character of these is unknown. The relative modesty
of Gustav's own apartment is suggested by the fact that
King Erik, when he took over Three Crowns, immedi-
ately redecorated his father's rooms—though they had
recently been refurbished. On the basis of what we
know of Erik's taste, we may assume that substantial 7. Three Crowns Castle from the southwest, by Covert Camphuysen,
1661, courtesy City Museum, Stockholm
enrichment of the interiors was achieved. But the castle
appears to have changed little otherwise.19
John III was apparently not pleased with what Erik
had done, and his redecorators moved in immediately.
Later, in the 1570s, he decided that more fundamental
changes would be necessary to make Three Crowns a though pleasingly varied in profile. A final coherence
suitable residence for a Swedish king. The outstanding was achieved by painting the roofs red and the walls of
problem was the castle's medieval character, its ugly the building white. The white walls were unchanged as
courtyards cluttered with small buildings for military long as the castle stood (fig. 7).
and utilitarian use. Two factors weighed heavily in favor John's transformation of Three Crowns, and the fact
of the preservation of Three Crowns: its size, which was that he saw it as one of the major achievements of his
adequate for the court of an important prince; and its life, is expressed in a print issued in connection with his
history, which gave a sense of the continuity of the funeral (fig. 6). The old king wears his regalia as he lies
Swedish monarchy, something much prized by a new in state in the large northern courtyard of the castle.
dynasty none too sure of its position. The enclosure is no longer the utility area it had been
As a young man, John was well educated and thor- for centuries but the courtyard of a splendid palace.
oughly familiar with the refinements of the European John III was a well-read man. He is known to have
royal life-style his brother Erik had adopted. His first studied Serlio and other architectural theoreticians of
wife, Katarina Jagellonica, was a Polish princess whose the Renaissance. The great round arcaded court at the
mother, Italian princess Bona Sforza, had made the Pol- royal residence of Svartsjô, built in 1588 toward the end
ish capital of Cracow into an important outpost of Ital- of John's reign, is remarkable in the history of Swedish
ian Renaissance culture. Katarina thus had ideas about architecture.21 This architectural erudition is also re-
appropriate lodgings. In 1573 John had revealed his dis- flected in the Three Crowns courtyard shown behind
criminating taste as a patron by bringing three of the the king's coffin in figure 6. The issues of symmetry and
north Italian Pahr brothers from Germany to work for proportion that so concerned Renaissance architectural
him at Kalmar Castle. His intentions rapidly evolved, theorists can be seen, though somewhat superficially, in
and the upgrading of the Three Crowns Castle became the new windows in the walls around the court. But it
his central interest. He was aided by the considerable is in the use of columns and arcades and in the creation
talents of the sculptor and architect from Flanders, of certain individual structures—required for reasons of
Willem Boy.20 utility and access—that John came closest to creating
Under John, the royal residential quarters at Three the impression of a Renaissance building. Swedish art
Crowns expanded out into most of the area covered by historians have found the architectural models for this
the old castle, achieving an unprecedented grandeur. court in the great French châteaux of the sixteenth
His designers also gave an appearance of fashionable century.22
modernity to the whole complex. The roofing was all The north courtyard of Three Crowns Castle contains
redone in the same sheet metal. Then the many towers, several other structures that should be mentioned
except for the round tower where the three crowns among John's architectural achievements at Stockholm.
were displayed, were made more uniform in height, The funeral cortege in the print (fig. 6) wends its way

42
 8. Ground plan of Three Crowns Castle, by Jean
De la Vallée, 1660, courtesy Office of the Palace
Architect, Stockholm

LEGEND
46, Three Crowns tower; 24, 25, 27, 28, and 34,
location of Gustav Vasa's apartment, 1540-1560,
and Gustavus Adolphus' apartment, 1620-1632;
17, John Ill's Hall of State; 3, John Ill's small
audience room; 45, John Ill's Green Passage and
library; 24-35, Queen Christina's second
apartment; 40, Ballet theater of Queen Christina
(after 1650)
NOTE: Stora Borggârden is the Great North Court of
John III; Smidie Garden is the Blacksmith's Court

toward the entrance to the new protestant chapel (John kyrkan.) Part of John's overall palace plan of the 1570s
also built a small Catholic chapel for his Polish queen). apparently called for new royal lodgings, but work be-
The few surviving fragments from this building suggest gan only in 1584. The death of Queen Katarina in 1583
that it was elaborately decorated in an original combi- and the king's courting of the reluctant Gunilla Bielka, a
nation of styles, including both northern mannerist and young Swedish noblewoman, as a second wife seem to
Gothic. It is supposed that John's interior, following have spurred the project along. King John's decoration
from his theology, tried to reconcile the modern re- of the rooms was so lavish that they were not ready un-
formed church with traditional Catholicism. Today some til 1590. (A contemporary example of John's generosity
sense of what the decor of this chapel must have been to his new wife is shown in this exhibition by the splen-
like can be had from the tomb of Katarina Jagellonica did orb and scepter made for her coronation [cat. 2].)
by Willem Boy in Uppsala Cathedral (1588).23 Innovative planning increased the living space and
At the far end of the court appears a building be- the comfort of the royal apartments and at the same
tween two square towers, which included magnificent time created an unprecedentedly grandiose setting. A
new apartments on its top floor for the king and queen. broad windowed corridor of great length joined most of
Their old rooms, though frequently redecorated, had the rooms, and even served when necessary as a recep-
never pleased them. (It is easy to understand why when tion room, enjoying a view of John's new northern
one realizes that many of the rooms overlooked the courtyard (fig. 8). Many of the rooms were also con-
blacksmith's court, while others of greatest prestige had nected by interior doors, allowing private circulation by
only adequate views of town and the rear of the Stor- the royal couple. A major innovation in design was a

43
 9. John Ill's audience room, Three Crowns
Castle, showing reception of Dutch ambas-
sador by Gustavus Adolphus, engraving
by Antonis Goeteris, from Journael der
Legatae ghedaen inde Jahren 1615 ende 1616
(1619), courtesy Royal Library, Stockholm

huge family dining room linking the king's apartment tury as the site of many major royal functions. John's
with that of the queen. On occasion the room also palace, with only minor modifications, accommodated
served as an enormous guardroom. The tour de force, the Swedish monarchs until the 1690s. It was thus he
however, was the small audience room near the north who created the setting in which the Swedish monarchs
tower of the castle: lived during almost all of the country's time as a great
This room which was 12 x 15 meters [c. 39 x 49 feet] power in Europe. His successor, Charles IX, did almost
was entirely finished with the work of goldsmiths and nothing to change Three Crowns Castle.
shone with gold and silver. It had seven large rectan- Gustavus Adolphus, who ruled Sweden from 1611 to
gular windows. . . . The walls were divided by pilas- 1632, established a centralized government in Stock-
ters and the areas between them as well as the shut- holm at Three Crowns Castle. But he appears to have
ters were covered with silvered copper plate, very been more interested in organizing the rapid growth of
likely with engraved decoration. . . . The ceiling was the city than in restoring the elegances of the castle
coffered . . . but completely executed in richly chased from earlier years. Most of the construction undertaken
copper and entirely gilded and silver plated. The floor at Three Crowns during his reign was the enlargement
of the room was made of plates of copper and brass of quarters for the reorganized government—the courts
laid in a checkered pattern. The plates had enamel or- of law, chancery, revenue office, and so on. This hardly
nament in colors. On the walls over the silvered cop- changed the character of the castle as a whole.
per plate hung tapestries richly in-woven with gold It would be wrong, however, to underestimate the
and silver.24 building achievements of Gustavus Adolphus. In 1624
Though obviously nothing more was needed to over- he signed a contract with a new royal architect, Kaspar
whelm the visitor, a doorway opened between two fire- Panten, to construct a new wing around the black-
places (gilded?), leading to a long passageway. This smith's court at Three Crowns. The features of the four-
connected the king's apartment with the two chapels of story structure were carefully defined before Panten de-
the castle. "The Green Passage was used by the king as parted for his native Holland to procure craftsmen and
a library and study and probably as a picture gallery. artists. Workers arrived in Sweden in May, and the
From the large-paned windows, the king had a fine building was completed in about a year.26
view [over the water and the castle yard]" (see fig. 8). Although Gustavus Adolphus did not hesitate to use
Mention should also be made of the renovation of the John Ill's audience chamber on special occasions (fig.
Hall of State built by King John at Three Crowns, 9), he seems to have preferred a simpler decor of wood
reached by the great ceremonial stairway that led to the inlay. Either he or his minister, Axel Oxenstierna, had
new royal apartments.25 While in no way equal to the forged a relationship with some fine woodworkers from
room built by Gustav Vasa at Uppsala, it was nonethe- Lübeck (who produced among other works in Sweden a
less a magnificent interior, serving for more than a cen- superb baptismal chapel in Vasterâs cathedral). They

44
worked for Oxenstierna at Tidô Palace, executing its fa- nent humanist among European monarchs.27 In addi-
mous wooden doors, many of which remain in place tion to the queen's bedroom and a "large reception
today (fig. 10). Similarly elaborate inlaid door frames room with stone floor," there was a "study with small
are presumed to have decorated the various rooms at tower" and an anteroom, a music chamber, and an area
the Three Crowns Castle, which were refurnished by the for musicians in her dining room. The music facilities
king for private use during his relatively short reign. recall the extraordinary court ballets on the French
Kaspar Panten served as an advisor to the king on all model that were so much a part of Christina's life,
aspects of palace decoration and furnishing. Certainly though they were probably staged in the large reception
the standard of luxury had risen to such heights at the room. A theater was added in the 1650s (fig. 8).
end of the sixteenth century that it was inconceivable Another fire broke out in 1648, and in the process of
for a king of Sweden to be less than moderately lavish. rebuilding the blacksmith's court, which had been se-
The death of Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of verely damaged, Christina's apartment, which was
Lützen in 1632 brought about a near hiatus for almost nearby, was completely transformed.28 The queen must
ten years in important work at Three Crowns Castle. A have been particularly pleased by the addition of a li-
regency was established for the young Queen Christina brary connected to her bedroom. The library had book-
led by Axel Oxenstierna, and for him the prestige of the cases reaching all the way to the ceiling, the upper
crown was manifested less in building programs than in shelves being reached by balconies supported by metal
the smooth administration of the country, its growing rods suspended from the ceiling.
territories abroad, and its armies in Germany. Not unex- Christina's new apartment seems to have been deco-
pectedly, the royal residence was changed mainly by the rated not with the old elegance of Germany, Holland,
addition of still more space for government offices and and the Holy Roman Empire, typical of so much that
some improvements in the water supply system. Even was done by her predecessors, but in the French style.
these modest efforts counted for little since many of the Her bedchamber was furnished with a great French bed
new offices were swept by a fire in 1642 shortly after of state, which she used in the French manner for audi-
completion and had to be rebuilt. ences, either reclining or, more often, receiving impor-
A description of Christina's apartment (see fig. 8) sug- tant figures in a special area in the bed niche. The
gests that some changes were made that related to the names of other rooms in her suite—the Red Chamber
remarkable education of the young queen, who during and the Blue Chamber—also suggest contemporary
the 1640s gradually gained a reputation as the preemi- French ideas. Some years before, Madame de Rambouil-

10. Vestibule doorway, dated 1639,

Tidô Castle, courtesy Atlantis

45
let had started a revolution in interior decoration when would be doing them too much honor."31 Her opinion
she received her guests in a room where blue was the of the precious objects was undoubtedly the same. If
predominant color and all of the elements in the room they were of use, it was only as symbols of Swedish
were in harmony. It is not clear whether Christina fol- power; and apart from the books, most must have been
lowed these new aesthetic ideas fully or whether she displayed in parts of the palace other than her personal
simply adopted the fashionable names of modern Pari- quarters. There can be no doubt, however, that Three
sian rooms. Crowns Castle suddenly became home to a world-class
In 1648 Christina invited André Mollet, a prominent art collection rivaling those of the greatest European
member of an acclaimed family of French gardeners, to monarchs.
join her court. Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, the This windfall of booty had a modest impact on the ar-
queen's favorite, had met him in Paris in 1646 and ne- chitecture of the castle. The major work prompted by
gotiated his entering the queen's service. Mollet brought the arrival of the spoils from Prague was the construc-
with him to the royal gardens twenty orange and lemon tion of a building to house the lions. Though Christina
trees, four grenadines, four myrtles, ten Spanish jas- ruled for only five years after the capture of Prague, and
mines, seven laurel bushes, as well as tulips and ane- left with most of the collection when she abdicated, she
mones. Since Three Crowns Castle had room for only a enhanced the idea of regal living surrounded by treas-
few small gardens, Mollet concentrated his efforts on ures, already well established in the previous century.
Kungstradgârden (the king's yard), a well-known public In the last years of Queen Christina's reign, she spon-
park in Stockholm across from today's Royal Palace. sored an extravagant scheme for completely rebuilding
An elaborately structured French formal garden with Three Crowns. The reasons were primarily that she now
shaped and trimmed walls of trees surrounding parterres favored a style based more on classical, Italian, and
and walks was developed during Mollet's five years in French models; and the etiquette of her court had be-
Sweden. come more refined as she adopted the strict rituals and
Mollet has also been given credit for Magnus Gabriel protocol of the Spanish kings. Already on 30 May 1649
De la Gardie's beautiful garden at Jacobsdal (see fig. Christina spoke to her council about plans for a new
15), which impressed Queen Christina enough that she castle. One of these proposals, by Nicodemus Tessin the
purchased the entire palace. Mollet and his son also Elder, recommended the destruction of most of the old
found time to transform the gardens of other noble resi- castle—the queen's new quarters appear to have been
dences, the most famous being the great garden at destined to survive, at least for a while—and a far more
Kungsholm to the west of the city, made for Governor- regular if rather boring organization of many interior
General Schering Rosenhane. Sweden's new status as a spaces and the courtyards.
center of the modern European art of gardening was es- This project apparently failed to win support, but in
tablished when André Mollet published in Stockholm, 1651 the queen engaged Jean De la Vallée, just back
possibly in connection with Queen Christina's corona- from Italy, as palace architect.32 He seems to have care-
tion, his renowned treatise on gardening, Le Jardin de fully reflected on the problems, producing an overall
Plaisir (165l). 29 French garden design developed so plan in 1654. He then proposed a highly regular, gener-
quickly that when Erik Dahlberg published Sweden's ally symmetrical plan, stressing outdoor amenities, par-
achievements in architecture a decade later in his splen- ticularly terraces and formal gardens. His radical
did Svecia Antiqua e Hodierna, numerous formal gardens changes included the suppression of the ramparts and
of a high international standard were engraved.30 moats, and the removal of walls that blocked the views
With the arrival of loot from the Swedish capture of toward both the city and the water. This would have
the imperial collections in Prague in 1649, Three completed the transformation of the medieval castle into
Crowns was again transformed. But these valuable ob- a modern palace.
jects presented Christina with something of a dilemma. Charles X, who was crowned king on the day of
Beyond the books, which she was most anxious to ac- Christina's abdication in 1654, has on the whole re-
quire, the Prague treasures were in the grand Germanic ceived rather bad press on the subject of his support for
style so appreciated by her ancestors, but mostly not to the arts. This is difficult to understand, considering his
her taste (see cat. 31). Her own account of 1653 reads: known architectural activity. He was widely traveled
"There is an infinite range of items, but apart from and well educated, and he appears to have been eager
thirty or forty Italian originals, I discount them all. to continue Christina's enthusiastic patronage (see cat.
There are works by Albrecht Durer and other German 36). He also seems to have been willing to undertake
masters . . . which would arouse profound admiration of major building projects, to enhance either his image or
anyone apart from myself. But I do declare that I would his life-style. He found Gripsholm outdated, but rather
change them all for two Raphaels, and I think this than remodel, he asked Tessin the Elder to draw up

46
plans for a new pleasure palace nearby.33 He also building according to the highest contemporary stan-
pressed for the rebuilding of Three Crowns Castle along dards. In a typical gesture, the dowager queen sent
the ambitious lines proposed by De la Vallée in 1654. Nicodemus Tessin the Younger to Italy to study archi-
Two alternative designs were presented to the king in tecture in 1673.35 Christina, who was then living in
1656, and the decision was made to establish one basic Rome, introduced Tessin to the pope's architect and
program and proceed piece by piece with construction.34 sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and arranged for him to
Charles was personally involved in this process, review- study with Carlo Fontana. In 1677 Tessin made another
ing plans while on campaign in Poland in 1657. The trip, primarily to France, to refine his knowledge of gar-
next year the architect traveled to Gothenburg to discuss den design at Versailles. The conviction was that the
the same matter with the king. A final decision was Swedish royal architects should be trained in the best
made, but by the time measured drawings were com- traditions rather than recruited from available talent.
pleted for part of the new work in 1660, the king However transformed Three Crowns Castle might
was dead. eventually become, it appears that the dowager queen
Through the 1660s Tessin, who replaced De la Vallée preferred life in the country, and in 1661 she bought
as royal architect, continued to draw up new plans for the palace and property of Drottningholm from the
Three Crowns Castle. Some of his elevations are pre- De la Gardie family. The "Drottning" (queen) in the
served. These are primarily in the French style but with name refers to John Ill's wife Katarina Jagellonica, who
a slight admixture of Italian and German elements. They planned the palace in 1579 but did not live to see it
have been lauded for their originality, which is consid- completed. The character of this building is not known,
erable, but they became seriously dated after the foreign however, for it burned to the ground on 30 December
travels of the architect's son during the 1670s and 1661.
1680s, when it was decided that something close to the Preparations for construction of a new Drottningholm
imposing contemporary architecture of Rome or Paris Palace began promptly, and Tessin the Elder worked on
was the appropriate model for Stockholm. The elder it for the remaining twenty years of his life, collaborat-
Tessin's Old State Bank Building on the Jàrntorg in the ing with his son.36 Two factors stand out about the
old town of Stockholm (1675-1682) is a remarkably planning of Drottningholm. The whole, executed so
idiomatic design in the style of contemporary Italian soon after the queen was widowed, was seen by her as
palaces, the first sign of a royal architect working in a memorial to her husband and an homage to the
a style that had little to do with Swedish architecture in Swedish crown. Since the aim was no less than to cre-
the immediate past. ate a great Swedish monument, only the best in every-
Queen Hedvig Eleonora, widow of Charles X, was the thing would suffice. The Tessins offered her their con-
daughter of cultured German parents who were gener- ception of the highest modern architectural standard.
ous patrons of the arts. She seems to have retained this Drottningholm's outline against the sky suggests very
interest and advanced both her husband's and Queen different style preferences from those that shaped Three
Christina's commitment to acquiring works of art and Crowns (compare figs. 7 and 11). The picturesquely

11. Drottningholm Palace, engraving

by Willem Swidde after Erik Dahlberg,
1692, from Svecia Antiqua e Hodierna,
courtesy Nationalmuseum

47
 curved metal roofs topped by spires or cupolas and the
irregular towerlike features of the Stockholm castle dis-
appeared at Drottninghoim. Symmetry reigned, and
simple copper roofs penetrated with mansard windows
covered most of a building that had but one tower. The
enrichment of the silhouette was limited to this tower
and the pair of domes that appeared at either end.
Drottninghoim was unfortified and in fact was arranged
to take advantage of its views of Lake Màlaren and the
palace gardens, conceived in a correlative symmetry.
This was a house in which to enjoy the pleasures of
country life. It had similarities to the slightly earlier
château of Vaux le Vicomte in France, even if a certain
Swedish flavor was not completely absent.
In the interiors at Drottninghoim, stone replaced
much of the elaborate inlaid wood characteristic of
Swedish castles and palaces for nearly a century, even
on the walls; and the wooden dados below pictures and
tapestries were kept low and painted in feigned marble.
Most distinctive in the new palace was the use of plaster
12. Upper floor guardroom of Drottninghoim Falace, stuccoes oy for ceilings and cornices (fig. 12). An Italian stuccoer
Giovanni Carove, 1672, courtesy Atlantis. The portrait bust of Gustavus Giovanni Carove and his son Carlo were responsible for
Adolphus by Georg Petel in this exhibition (cat. 25) was on display on
the left in this photograph many of the principal rooms, while the same stucco
style was rendered in other rooms by means of illusion-
istic painting. The look of marble rooms in an Italian
palace was thus somewhat heavy-handedly suggested.
Ceiling paintings with figures also made their appear-
ance here. One or two were booty from Charles X's
Danish war, and the rest provided some of the commis-
sions that caused the rise in the fortunes of German-
born court painter David Klôcker (ennobled later as von
Ehrenstrahl).
The most remarkable room in the palace demon-
strates that French taste, as well as Italian, was very
much in the ascendant (fig. 13). Tessin designed a state
bedroom that is almost a rendering of the interiors en-
graved by Jean Le Pautre in Paris. This spectacular
room, now blue and gold and so painted by the queen
shortly after 1700, was originally rendered in black and
gold for mourning. It contains allegorical paintings by
Ehrenstrahl relating to the history of the royal family
and is certainly the most sumptuous room to survive
from seventeenth-century Sweden.
When his father died in 1681, Tessin the Younger
was left to complete major parts of Drottninghoim Pal-
ace on his own, including a pair of galleries that, fol-
lowing the original theme laid down by Queen Hedvig
Eleonora, represent the battles won by her husband and
son. In the great palace stairway, after a design by his
father, Tessin celebrated classical art in the style of the
statues, while figures in court dress looked down from
the paintings. The motif of foreign onlookers was well
13. State bedroom of Hedvig Eleonora, Drottninghoim Palace, 1668- known from the ambassador's room at the Quirinal Pal-
1672, courtesy Royal Collections ace in Rome and from Louis XIV's Ambassador's Stair-

48
way at Versailles. But the use of figures in court dress
originated in the ceiling of the Queen's Guardroom at
Versailles and was much remarked upon by contempo-
rary critics at the time. Word about such innovations in
the major centers of European art clearly traveled to
Sweden with utmost speed.
The younger Tessin excelled in his Drottningholm
garden design. In fact, he was pleased enough with
what he had done that he found no reason to change it
when the greatest gardener of that century (and perhaps
any other), André Le Nôtre, sent along an overdue proj-
ect. Tessin's garden so elevated Drottningholm that it is
often called the Swedish Versailles.37 But that is too
simple. The garden was of course a good approximation
of the best contemporary French standard, but it was
also designed to follow the theme of the whole palace,
namely, the glorification of the queen's husband and
family. The thirty-odd pieces of sculpture in the garden
were by Adriaan de Vries and most came from a monu-
mental fountain looted by Charles X at Frederiksborg in
Denmark (fig. 14).38 The queen's interest in using works
from the previous century, which were clearly not in
fashion and would have been more at home in a palace
of John Ill's time, is explained by their provenance and
its reference to the victories of her husband.
In 1669 the queen bought another country palace, Ja- 14. Adriaan de Vries, Hercules Fountain, 1602, reassembled (in part) in
cobsdal, which had reverted to the De la Gardie family Drottningholm Palace garden, courtesy Nationalmuseum
when Christina forgot to pay for her purchase of it (fig.
15). Hedvig Eleonora made a number of changes, but
little remains of her palace except a Carove ceiling and
an orangerie rebuilt by Tessin the Younger in c. 1700.
15. Ulriksdal (earlier Jacobsdal), engraving by Erik Dahlberg, from
Svecia Antiqua e Hodierna, courtesy Nationalmuseum

49
 She changed the name of the property to Ulriksdal in
1687 and gave it to her grandson (after whom it was
named); it returned to her when he died shortly after-
ward. At Ulriksdal, in a spot we cannot identify today,
the queen had her treasure cabinet, inspired apparently
by the treasure collections of Christina's time. In it, she
kept her collection of elegant decorative arts objects and
jewelry (cats. 55-60), including miniature animals made
of gold and jewels. Other splendid works in her collec-
tion were displayed on tables, in cabinets, and on chim-
neys at Drottningholm, where inventories indicate that
there were 350 pieces of faience and porcelain from
Italy, Delft, and the Orient.39 The sparsely furnished pal-
aces of today rarely convey what they must have been
like in the seventeenth century, crowded with treasure,
musical instruments, even oddities such as wax sculp-
tures with real human hair.
Charles XI, son of the lavish Queen Hedvig Eleonora,
grew into an important patron of the arts in his own
right. When he was young, the French ambassador sug-
16. Royal Chapel, Royal Palace (burned 1697), by Nicodemus Tessin
gested to Louis XIV that a gift of horses was most likely the Younger, engraving of 1702, from Svecia Antiqua e Hodierna,
to please him (cat. 51), but he learned to take great courtesy Nationalmuseum
pride in his court painter and decorator, Ehrenstrahl.
And the younger Tessin finally convinced him to begin
rebuilding the Three Crowns Castle.40 Charles' interest
was in creating an architectural statement absolutely Vallée from the 1650s, carefully studying and criticizing
original for Sweden—an architectural wonder on a scale them. Their precise influence is difficult to evaluate
that would rival what was being done at the court of since all of De la Vallée's elevations are lost, but Tessin
Louis XIV in France. disagreed with some features while praising others. An-
It was in 1686 that new life was breathed into the other forerunner was Tessin's own unexecuted design of
idea of modernizing Three Crowns. When a great fire 1680 for the rebuilding of the castle of Settin across the
destroyed part of the city of Stockholm, the question of Baltic in Swedish Pomerania, which embraced the style
a bridge from north Stockholm to the north side of the of the Italian baroque.42 But the clearest influence on
castle was discussed. This led to the decision to rebuild what evolved in the planning of the new Stockholm
the north side, which was finally undertaken in 1692. palace was the great model left by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Unprecedented efforts were made to attract the very best for a new palace for the Louvre, which Tessin had
contemporary artists to work on the renovation. Daniel studied closely while in Paris in 1687.
Cronstrôm, a permanent representative of the Swedish By his own account, Tessin began work on his design
king and his architect, was stationed in Paris in 1693 to for Stockholm's palace immediately after returning from
recruit artists, commission some designs, acquire objects Paris. And the surviving drawings of Bernini's elevations
that could not be made in Sweden, and send prints and for the Louvre are very like what was built in Stockholm,
drawings to Stockholm of current developments in the but with an essential difference: Bernini had worked
visual arts.41 Cronstrôm was eventually to play a major with a far easier site. The archeological remains under
role in the reconstruction of the Stockholm castle and in Tessin's north wall make it clear that he was directed to
many other royal projects during Charles' reign and that preserve medieval walls as his foundations. Since he
of his son. had embraced an aesthetic that stressed simple rectan-
Tessin's north facade can be seen today as part of the gular forms and derived its beauty from the various pro-
Royal Palace (fig. 1). It is as strikingly different from portions of elements of the structure, including the
Drottningholm as the latter was from Three Crowns; overall outline and the placement of the rectangular
and it was an important statement of a new architec- portal and windows, the design problem was difficult.
tural aesthetic. Tessin might have based his design on The base was established, and Tessin had to struggle
one of those developed by his father in the 1660s or with the awkward length of the north front. In that
1670s, but what rose had nothing whatever to do with context, his solution shows considerable skill, though
them. Instead he began with the proposals of Jean De la architectural critics have expressed reservations about

50
the result. His use of ramps leading up to the main por- A long gallery on the third floor of the palace also oc-
tal substantially enhances the austere facade, which be- cupied the architect's particular attention at this period.
yond the main door is ornamented principally by simple Though an early drawing suggests that the original con-
windows and a relatively narrow cornice. Tessin himself ception included architectural ornament and large sculp-
seems to have recognized a problem, and he slightly tures, by the time the wing was actually built, the pres-
elaborated an original project by suppressing a conven- ence in Stockholm of two French artists—the painter
tional sloping roof and introducing a balustrade and a and designer Jacques Foucquet and the sculptor René
wider cornice in his final plan. Chauveau—led Tessin to imagine a decorative scheme
Between 1692 and 1694 the old north wing was in which elaborate paintings and sculpted frames and
pulled down and a new one rose. Contemporaries were ornament would serve as a monument to the achieve-
amazed by the rapidity of the work, accomplished ments of Charles XI (fig. 2), just as the Hall of Mirrors
through the professional expertise of Tessin. at Versailles had commemorated the victories of King
As the plans for the grand exterior of the palace were Louis XIV in his Dutch wars of the 1670s.
accepted, Tessin moved toward the redesign of the inte- Work was still underway on the gallery and on the
rior. On leap year 1692 he produced a plan for the other interiors when disaster struck. First, Charles XI
interior of John Ill's chapel, which had been largely died of cancer, and then, on 6 May 1697, while the
preserved behind the new facade. A new decorative in- king was still lying in state in the new chapel, a fire de-
vestment of it was complete by Christmas 1694 (fig. stroyed the old castle completely, and even damaged the
16), and the transformation was radical. Though identi- new wing. In the chapel, only the huge paintings by
cal in size and basic structure, the room no longer com- Ehrenstrahl (now in the Storkyrkan) and the pews (in
bined Gothic and mannerist styles; instead Tessin pro- the palace chapel today) were saved. The gallery of
duced a one-aisled baroque church, with an illusion of Charles XI seems to have fared better, though it is hard
great spaciousness.43 to know how much was finished at the time.44 In any
event, the fire was a tragic loss. A small schnapps glass
still in the royal collections was mounted in enamel and
inscribed, noting it to be a rare survivor of the great fire.
Much in the royal collections must have been lost,
though fortunately many of the best objects were cer-
tainly among Hedvig Eleonora's collections at Drott-
ningholm and Ulriksdal. Pieces from the dowager
queen's collection are most appropriately displayed to-
day in vitrines in the Gallery of Charles XI (fig. 17).
Following the fire, the young Charles XII moved into
the Wrangel Palace on Riddarholmen nearby with his
family and court. This relatively small building served as
the Swedish royal family's residence for more than fifty
years, though it was always seen as a temporary mea-
sure. In fact the building was in the distinctly outmoded
style of midcentury palaces of the nobility, far from the
modern vision embraced by Charles XL
The day after the fire Tessin was asked to discuss the
repair of the castle with the royal council. Since in con-
nection with his reconstruction of the north wing he
had already designed a general plan for rebuilding the
entire castle, it is not surprising that he proposed draw-
ing up a new master plan. This was completed and ac-
cepted on 21 June 1697.45 The breathtaking speed with
which Tessin was able to work was due to two factors:
the existence of his earlier plan; and a project with
which he was deeply involved at precisely that time,

17. Gallery of Charles XI, Royal Palace, courtesy Royal Collections

51
namely, the design of a palace in Copenhagen for the who was King Louis XIV's own designer of the royal
king of Denmark. Ideas in the Danish plans were exten- chamber, had established an excellent relationship with
sively pillaged. Tessin during the architect's visit to Paris in 1687, and
Since the Royal Palace was completed only after the after Tessin returned to Stockholm, Berain continued to
death of Charles XII and the end of the period surveyed send him drawings of ornament, theater designs, and so
by this exhibition, it does not seem necessary to review on (see cat. 63). The cutting edge of innovative French
that complicated story here. But one point must be em- interior decoration was well represented in Stockholm.
phasized: the grandiosity of Tessin's conception. Though The imperial ambition that led to Charles XII's mili-
the area of the new palace was not much greater than tary adventures in Russia also made itself felt in Swed-
that of the old castle the regularized profile of the whole ish architecture. While Charles languished for years at
provided considerable additional interior space. Tessin's Bender in Turkey, Tessin continued to send him in-
design included a vast Hall of State and a chapel several creasingly stupendous architectural projects.47 These
times the size of the one just destroyed. Even an opera began with projects to rebuild Stockholm (or at least
was proposed, though never built. This era of great ar- Norrmalm) into a magnificent capital city. Plans were
chitectural ambitions is also suggested by the equestrian prepared for a new domed burial church for the Swed-
statue of Charles XI included in this exhibition (cat. 64). ish kings on axis with the palace. When these were dis-
Cast from the model for a full-scale work that was to cussed, Tessin then turned to designs for a tremendous
have stood in the central courtyard of the new palace, it garden palace for the king that would have dwarfed
is closely based on a famous monument to Louis XIV. Drottningholm and come close to rivaling Versailles. But
Tessin's position in Sweden became so exalted that he all of this was to prove as chimeric as Charles' dreams
even built a small palace for himself facing the projected of conquering Russia and Peter the Great.
south facade of the new royal residence (fig. 18). It Even so, Tessin not only served his monarch bril-
proved to be in miniature what the king's house was in liantly but became a major European figure as well.
grand.46 Italian palaces are suggested in the design of Berlin and Copenhagen sought his advice,48 and he suc-
the exterior, while inside on the third floor he built a cessfully presented himself as one of the foremost ex-
small state apartment that has been called the best sur- perts on royal building. He was hardly modest. In 1706
viving example of French taste in interior design of the he dared to send Louis XIV designs and had a model
1690s. The ceilings of these rooms are one of their most built in Paris that presented his solution to problems
remarkable features (see cat. 65), some of them based raised by the completion of the Louvre. While Louis'
on drawings of Parisian hôtels by Jean Berain. Berain, careful study of the model may be seen as a polite ges-
ture to the minister of an important ally, Tessin was in
fact well regarded even in France. He had the excep-
tional opportunity to be asked to design a château for a
member of the French nobility in Roissy-en-France (de-
stroyed, it was on the site of de Gaulle Airport today).
With Tessin, the arts in Sweden under royal patronage
achieved near parity with those of the greatest cultural
centers of Europe, and to his contemporaries, Sweden
seemed to have added the laurels of artistic achievement
to those of the military fame achieved earlier in the
century.

1. Ingemund Bengtson, et al., Riksdagens Eus (Stockholm, 1983).

2. Goran Axel-Nilsson, Makalos (Stockholm, 1984).
3. Bjôrn Kommer, Nicodemus Tessin una das Stockholmer Schloss (Hei-
delberg, 1974); Martin Olsson, Del Tessinska Slottet, vol. 2 of Stockholm
Slotts Historia (Stockholm, 1940) (English summaries); and Andreas
Lindblom, et al., Fron Fredrik I Till GustafV, vol. 3 (Stockholm, 1941)
(English summaries).
4. Sketches by Tiepolo, Piazzetta, and others, acquired by Carl Gustav
Tessin as work samples to determine the suitability of candidates for
the decoration of the palace, are to be found in Stockholm's National-
museum. French artists provided most of the palace decorations.
Works were acquired from Boucher and Oudry. Taraval traveled to
18. Garden facade of Nicodemus Tessin's Palace in Stockholm, Stockholm to paint ceilings, while Jacques-Philippe Bouchardon and
engraving by J.V.D. Avelin, 1702, courtesy Nationalmuseum Charles Guillaume Cousin did sculptural decorations.

52
 5. Komrner 1974, 29-31, 74-79. D. A.:s Stora Ombyggnadsprojekt," in Olsson 1940, 1:272-273.
6. This idea was expressed by Louis XIV's buildings superintendent, 33. See Malmborg 1972, 2:43.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert. See Pierre Clément, éd., Lettres, Instructions et 34. Nordberg, in Olsson 1940, 1:274.
Mémoires de Colbert, vol. 5 (Paris, 1868). 35. Osvald Siren, Nicodemus Tessin D. Y:s Studieresor (Stockholm,
7. Ragnar Josephson, Nicodemus Tessin d.y., vol. 2 (Stockholm, 1931). 1914).
8. Stig Fogelmarck, "Den svenska skattkammarsamlingen," En Vàrld i
36. See Boo von Malmborg, "Drottningholm," De Kungliga Slotten,
miniatyr (Stockholm, 1982), 51-84; and Ur den kungliga Skattkam-
vol. 1 (Malmô, 1972), 135-172.
maren [exh. cat., Royal Treasury] (Stockholm, 1930).
37. Ragnar Josephson, Nicodemus Tessin d.y., vol. 1 (Stockholm,
9. Boo von Malmborg, "Gripsholm," De Kungliga Slotten, vol. 2 1930).
(Malmô, 1972). 38. John Bôttiger, Bronsarbeten af Adrien de Fries i Sverige (Stockholm,
10. A. Hahr, "Henrik von Côllen," Svenskt biograflskt lexikon 9 (Stock- 1884).
holm, 1931). 39. John Bôttiger, Hedvig Eleonoras Drottningholm (Stockholm, 1897).
11. Malmborg 1972, 27, illustrated.
40. Ragnar Josephson, "Byggnaden," in Olsson 1940, 2:24—56.
12. P. O. Westlund, Gripsholm under Vasatiden (Stockholm, 1949). Il-
41. R.-A. Weigert and C. Hernmarck, Les Relations Artistiques entre la
lustrated in Malmborg 1972, 19. France et la Suède 1693-1718: Correspondence (extraits) Nicodème Tessin le
13. The paintings are probably by Hans Eriksson. On this room, its Jeune et Daniel Cronstrôm (Stockholm, 1964).
art, and its historical associations, see Malmborg 1972, 21-26. 42. Josephson 1930.
14. Karl Chytil, Die Kunst in Prag zur Zeit Rudolf II (Prague, 1904). 43. Gunnar Maseoll Silverstolpe, in Olsson 1940, 2:229-243.
15. See Birgitta Sandstrôm, in Mereth Lindgren, et al., Svensk Konst- 44. Kommer 1974, 151-154, 164-165, catalogues the few surviving
historia (Uddevalla, 1986), 130-154. An abridged version has been drawings for the gallery and adjoining salons and publishes Tessin's
published in English entitled, A History of Swedish Art (Uddevalla, own description of the gallery from his "Traité de la Décoration intér-
1987), see 92-99. ieure." See also John Bôttiger, "Inkallandet av de Franska Konstnàr-
16. Martin Olsson, Slottets Historia Infill Âr 1600, vol. 1 of Stockholm erna," Olsson 1940, 2:193-228. René Chauveau worked on the gal-
Slotts Historia (Stockholm, 1940), 86-102, pi. 13, 14; Bengt Sôderberg, lery in 1696, but Foucquet's paintings were done after the fire.
Manor Houses and Castles in Sweden (Malmô, 1975), 43. Foucquet began the ceilings of the adjoining salons, "Spring" and
17. A new Medieval Museum has been established at the site, which "Summer," while Chauveau was at work on the gallery. Work on
allows visitors to see the results of a recent archeological excavation. both areas continued after the fire.
18. The old north wall may be viewed today in the Castle Museum, 45. Kommer 1974, 25-69, and Josephson in Olsson 1940, 2:69-112.
which incorporates most of the excavations of the 1930s. The publica- 46. Josephson 1931. On the interior decoration, see Agneta Laine,
tion of the excavation is found in Olsson 1940, 1:31-60 (English "Invention och imitation: Studier i den dekorativa utsmyckningen av
summary). det Tessinska palatsets paradváning" (diss., Stockholm, 1972).
19. Olsson 1940, 1:87-94, and 95-102. 47. C. Hernmarck, "N. Tessin d.y:s projekt till lustslott for Carl XII,"
20. Boy was active in Sweden from 1558 to 1592. Svenska kungaslott i skisser och ritninger, Ur Nationalmusei handtecknings-
samling, vol. 6 (Malmô, 1952). And Ragnar Josephson, "Stadsbyg-
21. Svartsjô burned in 1687, but the appearance of the round court is
gnadskonst i Stockholm intill ár 1800," Samfundet Sit Erik (Stockholm,
preserved by an engraving in Svecia Antiqua e Hodierna (Stockholm,
1918).
1719). Reproduced in Sandstrôm 1986, 144.
48. On Tessin's influence in Europe, see Ragnar Josephson, L'Archi-
22. Olsson 1940, 1:154-156.
tecte de Charles XII Nicodème Tessin à la cour de Louis XIV (Paris-Brussels,
23. Sandstrôm 1986, 148; Olsson 1940, 1:187-197, presents a full 1930); and Kommer 1974, 86-97.
discussion and reconstruction of the chapel.
24. Olsson 1940, 1:183, 184. Olsson gives the full history of the new
apartments; the quotes used here are from his English summary.
25. Olsson 1940, 1:185-198. Its appearance is known from a print
showing the coming of age ceremony of Charles XI in 1692.
26. Olsson 1940, 1:229-243.
27. Olsson 1940, 1:252.
28. Olsson 1940, 1:255.
29. André Mollet, Le Jardin de Plaisir (Stockholm, 1651; republished
with a postface by Michel Conan [Editions du Moniteur], Paris,
1981).
30. Svecia Antiqua e Hodierna, a large book of engravings was begun
in 1660. The project was proposed to Queen Hedvig Eleonora by De
la Gardie, and the principal artist was the soldier/draftsman Erik Dahl-
berg. Some of the plates were made by French engravers, the later
ones by a Dutch artist, Willem Swidde, working in Stockholm. The
book may be seen as an attempt to gain international respect for
Sweden's architectural heritage and recent achievements in building.
31. This remark is published by C. Nordenfalk, "Queen Christina and
Art," in Christina, Queen of Sweden [exh. cat., Nationalmuseum]
(Stockholm, 1966).
32. Tord Olsson Nordberg, "Jean de la Vallées och Nikodemus Tessin

53
 List of Abbreviations
Andrén 1963
Andrén, Erik, et al. Gula- och silverstamplar: Svenskt silver -
smide 1520-1850. Stockholm, 1963.
Cavalli-Bjôrkman 1972
Cavalli-Bjôrkman, Corel. Pierre Signac: En studie i svenskt
emalj- och miniatyrmâleri under 1600 talet (Stockholm,
1972).
Cavalli-Bjôrkman 1982
Cavalli-Bjôrkman, Corel. Svenskt miniatyrmâleri. Stock-
holm, 1982.
Cederstrôm 1942
Cederstrôm, Rudolf. De svenska riksregalierna och kungliga
vàrdighetstecknen. Stockholm, 1942.
Cederstrôm and Malmborg 1930
Cederstrôm, Rudolf, and Costa Malmborg. Den alare Liv-
rustkammaren. Stockholm, 1930.
Ekstrand 1956
Ekstrand, Gudrun. Karl X Gustavs dràkter i Kgl. Livrust-
kammaren. Stockholm, 1956.
Ekstrand 1957
Ekstrand, Gudrun. "Karl X Gustavs dràkter i Kgl. Livrust-
kammaren." Diss., Stockholm, 1957.
Fogelmarck 1970
Fogelmarck, Stig. The Treasury. Exh. cat., Royal Palace.
Stràngnàs, 1970.
Fogelmarck 1982
Fogelmarck, Stig. "Den svenska skattkammarsamlingen."
En Varia i miniatyr. Stockholm, 1982.
Hay ward 1962
Hayward, John F. The Art of the Gunmaker. 2 vols. Lon-
don, 1962.
Heer 1978
Heer, Eugèn. Der Neue St0ckel. 3 vols. Schwàbish-Hall,
1978.
Historiska bilder
Kraft, Salomon, Heribert Seitz, Torsten Lenk, eds. Histo-
riska bilder. 2 vols. Stockholm, 1948-1949.

54
Hoff 1969 Stockholm 1932
Hoff, Arne. Feuerwaffen. 2 vols. Brunswick, 1969. Gustav II Adolf. Exh. cat., Royal Armory. Stockholm,
JKSW 1932.
Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien Stockholm 1966
Laking 1921 Christina, Drottning av Sverige: en europeisk kulturperson-
Laking, Sir Guy F. A Record of European Armour and Arms lighet. Exh. cat., Nationalmuseum. Stockholm, 1966.
Through Seven Centuries. London, 1920-1922. NOTE: an English edition of this catalogue was published
Lenk 1939 simultaneously.
Lenk, Torsten. Flintláset. Stockholm, 1939. Stockholm 1982
Lenk 1949 Gustav II Adolf : 350 âr efter Lützen. Exh. cat., Royal Ar-
Lenk, Torsten. "En storpolitisk gava/' Historiska bilder, mory. Stockholm, 1982.
vol. 2. Stockholm, 1949. Stockholm 1986
Meyerson and Rangstrôm 1984 Kung Sol i Sverige. Exh. cat., Nationalmuseum. Stockholm,
Meyerson, Ake, and Lena Rangstrôm, Wrangel's Armoury. 1986.
Uddevalla, 1984. Twining 1967
Nordstrom 1984 Lord Twining. European Regalia. London, 1967.
Nordstrom, Lena. White Arms of the Royal Armoury. Udde- Tydén-Jordan 1984
valla, 1984. Tydén-Jordan, Astrid. "Karl XI's krôningsvagn: fransk
Seitz 1943 lyximport med fôrhinder." Livrustkammaren 16. Stock-
Seitz, Heribert. Bardisanen som svenskt drabant- och befàlsva- holm, 1984 (English summary: "King Charles XI's Coro-
pen. Stockholm, 1943. nation Coach: A French Luxury Import with Impedi-
ments").
Seitz 1948
Seitz, Heribert. "Gustav Vasa: Svârdet och vàrjan." Histo- Tydén-Jordan 1985
riska bilder, vol. 1. Stockholm, 1948. Tydén-Jordan, Astrid. Kroningvagnen: Konstverk och riks-
klenod. Stockholm, 1985 (English summary: "The Corona-
Seitz 1955
tion Coach: Work of Art and National Heirloom").
Seitz, Heribert. Svârdet och vàrjan som armévapen. Stock-
holm, 1955. Tydén-Jordan 1987
Tydén-Jordan, Astrid, éd. Kungligt kladd, Kungligt mode.
Seitz 1965-1968
Stockholm, 1987.
Seitz, Heribert. Blankwaffen. 2 vols. Brunswick, 1965—
1968. Uppsala 1921
Livrustkammaren. Vagledning. Uppsala, 1921.
Steingràber 1969
Steingràber, Erich, ed. Royal Treasures. Translated by Ste-
fan de Haan. New York, 1969.
Stockholm 1930-1931
Den Kungliga Skattkammaren och Andra Samlingar. Exh.
cat., Nationalmuseum. Stockholm, 1930-1931.

55
View of Stockholm, engraving by A. Perelle after Erik Dahlberg, last
quarter of the seventeenth century, from Sveda Antiqua e Hodierna
(Stockholm, 1719), courtesy Nationalmuseum
Catalogue

Note to the Reader

Dimensions are in centimeters, followed by inches in
parentheses. Height precedes width precedes depth.

Contributors to the Catalogue

G.A. Goran Aim, Royal Collections
G.C.-B. Gôrel Cavalli-Bjôrkman, Nationalmuseum
M.C. Michael Conforti, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
N.D. Nils Drejholt, Royal Armory
G.E. Gudrun Ekstrand, Royal Armory (retired)
S.F. Stig Fogelmarck, Royal Collections (retired)
A.H. Adam Heymowski, Librarian to His Majesty the King
B.H. Barbro Hovstadius, Nationalmuseum
U.G.J. Ulf G. Johnsson, Royal Castles Collections (Gripsholm)
U.L. Ulla Landergren, Royal Treasury
A.L. Arne Losman, Skokloster Castle
B.M. Bôrje Magnusson, Nationalmuseum
L.N. Lena Nordstrom, Royal Armory
L.R. Lena Rangstrom, Royal Armory
A.T.-J. Astrid Tydén-Jordan, Royal Armory
G.W. Guy Walton, New York University

57
 The Royal Regalia
THE SWEDISH CROWN JEWELS are artistically and histori-
cally among the most important in Europe and include
a number of unusual objects with unique functions.
Swedish coronation rites originated in the medieval
period, but it was only with the accession of Gustav
Vasa in 1523 that firm traditions regarding coronation
ceremonies and regalia were established. Gustav Vasa
was crowned in Uppsala in 1528, but none of the re-
galia used on that occasion—crown, scepter, or orb—
has survived. Two extant swords of state from later in
Vasa's reign are thus the oldest items in the Swedish
collection of regalia.
Mindful of the need to strengthen the national and
international prestige of his house, Gustav's son and
successor, Erik XIV, took great pains over the outward
trappings of his coronation. In planning the ceremony
he no doubt followed an ancient Swedish tradition. But
at the same time, eager to add luster to the bare fabric
of Swedish ritual, he focused on more ancient and pow-
erful kingdoms elsewhere in Europe. We know, for ex-
The Coronation of Charles XI in Uppsala Cathedral by David Klôcker von
Ehrenstrahl, 1675, courtesy National museum. The king is seated on ample, that he derived inspiration from English corona-
Queen Christina's throne, and the crown, scepter, orb, and sword of tion ceremonies. These were particularly appropriate for
state are held by the archbishop and ministers of the realm a Protestant country like Sweden, having evolved with
reference to a non-papal liturgy.
Erik discarded all of his father's regalia, except for the
swords of state, and ordered new tokens of regal dignity
from Antwerp, which at that time was the center of the
goldsmith's trade in Europe. For some unknown reason,
this order was not received, and in 1561 the new re-
galia were all completed in Stockholm: crown, scepter,
orb, and key of state. Their symbolic meaning, rooted
partly in the ancient world, was expounded in detail in
the coronation ritual, which itself remained virtually

58
unaltered until the last Swedish coronation in 1873. The pean regalia the orb symbolized the sole power of the
officiating prelate—the archbishop himself—recited a sovereign and accordingly could not be carried by a
prayer of consecration at the presentation of each item consort. This, then, marked the beginning of a tradition
of regalia, which included a characterization of each ar- in Sweden, known also in Poland, that was to be main-
ticle. The crown was described as the emblem of royal tained throughout the centuries.
honor and dignity, the scepter as the symbol of the sec- The oldest existing queenly regalia were made in
ular power of the king and his God-given duty of ruling 1585 for the marriage of King John III to a young
justly and judging his people. The cross-surmounted orb Swedish noblewoman, Gunilla Bielke. Her crown was
showed, among other things, that God had appointed melted down subsequently, but the scepter and orb
the king to be his vice-regent in a great and Christian have survived and are in the present exhibition (cat. 2).
kingdom. The sword alluded to the king's power The oldest surviving queenly crown was made in
bravely and manfully to defend good and punish evil. 1620 for the marriage of King Gustavus Adolphus and
And according to the prayer recited at the coronation of Princess Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg (cat. 1). Over
Charles IX, the key symbolized the king's power to the years it has been variously modified and elevated in
exclude evil, harbor good, and open the gates of the dignity. Queen Christina chose to wear this crown for
kingdom to people in distress. The key is without any her coronation in 1650 instead of using the crown of
counterpart in other European regalia traditions. Erik XIV, and she had another four gold arches added.
For the coronation of Charles IX in 1607 no fewer The reason for her decision is unclear, but she may
than three articles were added to the regalia. Two are have considered this crown more up-to-date and more
on display here: a chain of office (cat. 11) and a golden impressive.
horn for the sacred oil with which the king was The Swedish regalia include a number of other
anointed during the religious ceremony (cat. 3). The crowns, swords, badges of royal orders, scepters, and
distinctive design and exquisite beauty of the anointing orbs, which belong to the nation and still play a part as
horn have made it one of the most famous items of the symbols of the monarchy. The present King Carl XVI
Swedish regalia. Interestingly, it was the first item of re- Gustaf, like his immediate predecessors, Gustav V and
galia to have been made by a Swedish goldsmith, Peter Gustav VI Adolph, did not have a coronation, but dur-
Kempe of Stockholm. ing royal baptisms, weddings, and funeral services, the
The history of the queenly regalia begins with the regalia are displayed for their symbolic significance. At
marriage of Erik XIV and Karin Mânsdotter, followed the king's wedding in 1976, for example, the king's and
one day later by the coronation of the new queen. For queen's crowns were placed on either side of the altar
this ceremony Erik commissioned a crown, scepter, and in the Storkyrkan, Stockholm's great cathedral. S.F.
orb (no longer extant). The appearance of an orb in this
connection is remarkable, for in the tradition of Euro-

59
1 mother's crown, now that it was to be worn by a sover-
eign. The additional arches were of simpler design, and
they were less neatly chased and less delicately punched
Crown of Maria Eleonora 1620 than the original ones. The earlier stone settings were
Ruprecht Miller, fl. in Stockholm 1606-1623; reworked by also more elegantly executed. Each of the new arches
Jürgen Dargeman, fl. in Stockholm 1646-1688, and Frantz was set with nine diamonds, and six diamonds were
Bergs, fl. in Stockholm 1725-1777 added to each of the original arches.
gold set with diamonds and rubies; orb of blue translucent The second major alteration to the crown was made
enamel with gold and diamonds; cap of reddish purple, gold- in 1751, for the coronation of Adolph Frederick. Frantz
embroidered satin, encrusted with stone settings held by gold Bergs, one of the foremost Swedish goldsmiths of the
wires in compressed spirals eighteenth century, was commissioned for this work.
18.4 (71/4) high; circlet, 17.8 x 21.4 (7 x 83/8) inner diam., The additions he made are easily distinguishable by
3.7 ( l ^ ) high their less careful workmanship and by the use of a
yellower gold. To the circlet, which had already been
The Treasury, Royal Palace
enlarged for the coronation of Ulrika Eleonora the
Younger in 1719, Bergs now added eight diamond ro-
When twenty-six-year-old Gustavus Adolphus chose settes, and to each arch he added an ornament consist-
Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg to be his bride, he did ing of three small diamonds with a larger diamond on
so partly for political reasons. Three days after the wed- the point. The original cap was replaced by a new
ding, in 1620, she was crowned queen of Sweden in the one of gold-embroidered reddish purple satin, adorned
Storkyrkan, Stockholm. Dowager Queen Kristina, the with seventy rose diamonds and fifty-nine table-cut
mother of Gustavus Adolphus, was still living and thus diamonds.
in possession of the existing queenly regalia. Therefore, The crown of Maria Eleonora was the crown most
preparations for the coronation included the ordering of frequently used in the eighteenth century. Frederick I
a new crown. The commission was given to Ruprecht wore it, and under the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty it con-
Miller, a goldsmith of German origin then working in tinued to be used as a regal crown from the corona-
Stockholm who had outstanding artistic ability. Miller tion of Adolph Frederick in 1751 until the death of
had previously worked for both Charles IX and Gusta- Charles XIII in 1818. U.L.
vus Adolphus, and his accounts for the years between
1606 and 1620 record an immense number of assign- BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cederstrôm 1942; Fogelmarck 1970.
ments, beginning with the queenly crown of Kristina
(no longer extant).
The crown of Maria Eleonora was of the "closed"
type, with four arches supporting an orb at their inter-
section (fig. la). Its basic decorative theme was of rich,
thistlelike foliage worked on several levels, and its finely
balanced color scheme was a characteristic detail. The
choice of gold, black enamel, and white and red stones
probably had heraldic implications: gold and black for
Gustavus Adolphus (Vasa), red and white for Maria
Eleonora (Brandenburg). The blue-enameled orb has an
astronomical design, featuring sun, moon, and stars.
This crown, with its dynamic, stylized foliage ornamen-
tation, deviates from previous regalia and also from
earlier work by Miller.
This crown was altered several times over the years.
The first and most substantial reworking took place in
connection with the coronation of Queen Christina in
1650. In the royal treasury on 1 February that year, la. Crown of Maria Eleonora before 1650
Jürgen Dargeman, a goldsmith hailing from Wolgast in
Pomerania, signed for jewels to be used for improve-
ments to the crown. The changes commissioned by
Christina, which involved adding four new gold arches,
were doubtless intended to elevate the dignity of her

60
2
Scepter and Orb of Gunilla Bielke 1585
scepter probably by Antonius de Croeck, fl. in Stockholm
1568-1611; orb by Franz Beijer, fl. 1570-1596
gold, enamel, pearls, and diamonds
scepter, 68 (263/4) long; orb, 17.9 x 13.1 (7 x 51/8), and globe,
12 (43/4) diam.
The Treasury, Royal Palace

The oldest surviving Swedish queenly regalia date from tion." They next passed to Queen Kristina, consort of
the reign of John III and comprise the scepter and orb Charles IX, and they were probably altered for the coro-
of Gunilla Bielke, rather curiously referred to by John as nation in 1607. The pearls on the scepter are original,
"reginalia." The crown that the king had ordered for but the diamonds were added, replacing an earlier set-
the occasion was destroyed before 1592, but the scepter ting of emeralds and "karelian rubies" (garnets from the
and orb are shown in this exhibition. Finnish province of Karelia). In 1620, when the regalia
Gunilla Bielke was born in 1568, the daughter of the were taken over by Maria Eleonora, the orb is said to
privy councillor and governor of Ôstergôtland Johan have included only twenty-six pearls; one pearl had
Axelsson Bielke and his wife Margareta Posse. She was been lost but has since been replaced.
educated at the court of John III and Queen Katarina Prayers from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century cor-
Jagellonica, where she served as the queen's maid-in- onations that explain the symbolism of the queenly re-
waiting. After Katarina died in 1583, John decided to galia have not survived, but there is reason to suppose
remarry and chose sixteen-year-old Gunilla Bielke as his that their meaning is reflected in the ritual known from
new bride. She was none too pleased, but in the end coronations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
she was persuaded to accept the fifty-year-old king as The queenly crown is referred to there as a symbol
her suitor. The wedding festivities took place at Vasteras of honor and dignity, and the scepter as a symbol of
Castle in February 1585, and in connection with her the queen's God-given duty to further virtue and jus-
marriage, Gunilla Bielke was crowned queen of tice and to combat ungodly living. The orb, surmounted
Sweden. by a cross, was meant to show that God in his mercy
The making of Gunilla Bielke's regalia was entrusted had bestowed on the queen the right of watching over
to Gillis Coyet the Elder, a Netherlander who had re- the prosperity and development of the kingdom for the
cently settled in Stockholm and had been appointed benefit of the people of Sweden.
John Ill's goldsmith in 1571 and master of his mint a It was probably on account of its size that Gunilla
few years later. The regalia, however, were not all Coy- Bielke's orb was elevated to the rank of the king's orb
et's work. Accounts show that several goldsmiths were of state under the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty. It was thus
employed on the assignment under Coyet's supervision, used by King Adolph Frederick at his coronation in
and he was responsible for the entire delivery. Several 1751, by Gustav III in 1772, and by Charles XIII in
years later Coyet was charged with failing to give a 1809. U.L.
proper account of the materials and with making a
"clumsy, rough job" of the queenly crown. In his de- BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cederstrôm 1942; Fogelmarck 1970.
fense, Coyet pleaded that shortage of time had pre-
vented him from making the crown "lighter and bet-
ter/' Records of the subsequent questioning of Coyet in
court show that Antonius de Croeck had made the
scepter, and Franz Beijer, a Swiss goldsmith, the orb.
When Duke Charles had an inventory made of the re-
galia a few days after the death of John III in 1592, the
queen declared that "the crown was broken before."
Gunilla's scepter and orb stayed together for more
than one hundred years as queenly insignia. In Duke
Charles' inventory of 1592 they are referred to as "the
scepter and orb used by Queen Gunnil at her corona-

62
3 detachable plates features a hairline pattern of gold
open work against the enamel, an ornamentation typi-
Anointing Horn of Charles IX 1607 cal of the time. In decorating the horn, Kempe also used
garnets of rare beauty from a deposit in Finnish Karelia.
Peter Kempe, fl. in Stockholm 1589-1621 Charles IX was keenly interested in finds of precious
gold with multicolored opaque and translucent enamel, stones in his kingdom (which included Finland) and
diamonds, rubies, and garnets from Finnish Karelia was probably at special pains to incorporate these stones
15.5 x 12 (6 1 / 8 x4 3 / 4 ) in his new regalia. The figure at the apex of the anoint-
The Treasury, Royal Palace ing horn is Justitia, goddess of justice, with her tradi-
tional attributes of sword and scales (the intricately
wrought scales are made up of twelve separate pieces).
For his coronation in 1607, Gustav Vasa's youngest son, The elegant shape of the anointing horn and its bal-
Charles IX, ordered a precious vessel for the consecrated anced combination of polished gold and enameled relief
oil to be used in the anointing ritual. This new regalia ornamentation make it one of the most beautiful items
object was given the form of a small, well-proportioned, in the Swedish regalia.
lidded horn mounted on a baluster-shaped foot. The in- Erik XIV's coronation service in 1561 set the pattern
spiration for this design may possibly derive from a pas- for Swedish coronations right down to that of Oscar II
sage in I Kings 1:39: "And Zadok the priest took an in 1873. At the coronation of Charles IX, the regalia
horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed Solo- were carried in solemn procession to the church. They
mon." Charles IX wanted his coronation ceremony to were carried in front of the king by the senior officers of
recall Old Testament as well as Old Norse traditions as a the realm, in ranking order. Nearest to the king went
way of giving the young Vasa dynasty an air of vener- the sword of state, and in front of it the crown, scepter,
able legitimacy. orb, and key. The religious part of the coronation cere-
Coronation ceremonies and anointing had been a mony began at the church door, where the archbishop,
practice in various northern European states since at assisted by the bishops, greeted the king with the words
least the second half of the twelfth century. Valdemar "Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord."
the Great was anointed king of Denmark in 1157, and The anointing horn, carried at the head of the proces-
Magnus Erlingsson, king of Norway in 1164. The first sion, was deposited on the altar together with the re-
king of Sweden definitely known to have been anointed galia. After the king had recited his prayers and, in the
as king was Erik Knutsson, who acceded in 1210. The presence of the archbishop, pledged himself to defend
coronation ceremony took place in Uppsala and was the true faith, the coronation oath was taken. This was
performed by the archbishop assisted by all the bishops followed by the anointing, the sacred oil being applied
in the presence of the magnates of the realm. Six years to the king's forehead and wrists. The ceremony then
later Pope Innocent III issued a Latin manifesto confirm- continued with the archbishop removing the crown
ing Erik's assumption of power in Sweden. The cere- from the altar, putting it on the king's bare head, and
mony of anointing seems to have been prompted by a pronouncing the blessing. The king was similarly in-
desire on the part of pretenders to secure the valuable vested with other regalia. This part of the ceremony
support of the Church. over, the king sat on the throne in full majesty, display-
The order for Charles IX's anointing horn went to the ing the sword, scepter, and orb. The herald then pro-
Stockholm goldsmith Peter Kempe, who had previously claimed three times over: "Our most illustrious, noble
worked for John III and in 1606 had been commis- prince and lord, His Majesty Charles IX, is now
sioned to make a princely crown of gold adorned with anointed and called the king of Sweden," to which the
rubies, diamonds, and pearls. Kempe also engraved the congregation responded: "God send our king fortune
left pauldron of Charles IX's funeral armor, erected over and happiness, may his reign be long and glorious."
the king's tomb in Stràngnàs Cathedral, and was en- The colorful ceremony was then vigorously ended with
trusted with making the scepter and orb for the same a fanfare of trumpets and an artillery salute. U.L.
king's funeral regalia (cat. 12). Like the burial regalia,
the anointing horn shows that Kempe was a skilled BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cederstrôm 1942; Twining 1967; Fogelmarck
1970.
enamelist. The ornamentation on its foot and on its two

64
 Gustav Vasa c. 1494-1500
SINCE THE 1390s Denmark, Norway, and Sweden had
been joined together in what is known as the Union of
Kalmar, after the city in Sweden where the union treaty
was signed. But this meant that the Swedes were often
governed from Denmark, and occasionally they rebelled
against this "foreign rule/' Nothing changed fundamen-
tally until the 1520s, however, when Gustav Eriksson of
the house of Vasa finally succeeded in "lifting the Dan-
ish yoke from the shoulders of the Swedish people/' By
then King Christian II of Denmark and Norway had laid
claim to the Swedish crown by virtue of the union
treaty, and the Vasas had been among the noble fami-
lies cut down in Christian's treachery. Gustav Vasa him-
self was imprisoned without cause, and his father was
beheaded together with about a hundred other unsus-
pecting guests at Christian's coronation in Stockholm.
Gustav's mother and sister were taken to Denmark and
died there in captivity.
Gustav Vasa rallied the Swedish people against the
Danes, and after a number of important victories, he
was elected king of Sweden on 6 June 1523. More than
twenty years passed before he was able to feel secure on
the throne, however. His position was challenged in
various quarters domestically, and on the Continent he
was regarded as an upstart ruler with little claim to the
monarchy. But he was equal to the situation. Rebellions
or uprisings were beaten down, disobedient subjects

66
were executed, blandishments and fair promises alter-
nated with broken agreements and torrents of invective.
To create the strong centralized government he envi-
sioned, Gustav personally took over every aspect of
running what he tended to regard more and more as
his own property. And in the end, it must be said, he
succeeded.
Gustav Vasa introduced the Reformation to Sweden
mainly for economic reasons, but also as a means of up-
rooting the secular power of the Church. He had little
interest in whether the Mass was read one way or an-
other, but if the country became Protestant, he would
be able to dissolve the monasteries, seize their wealth,
and forbid obstreperous bishops from keeping fortified
palaces and private armies.
In 1544 Gustav Vasa secured the proclamation of
Sweden as a hereditary kingdom with the royal title de-
scending through the male line of the Vasas. A son Erik
was the only child of the king's first marriage. Eight
children survived from the second marriage, including
three sons: John, Magnus, and Charles. When Gustav
Vasa died in 1560, he left a reformed and united Swe-
den, but curiously, his legacy allowed a division of his
kingdom into fiefdoms for each of his sons. Three of the
princes eventually became kings of Sweden: Erik XIV,
John III, and Charles IX. U.G.J.

67
4 5
Close Helmet with Grotesque Visor Sword of Gustav Vasa 1550s
ofGustav Vasa c. 1540 German; blade possibly Swedish
German steel and gilded silver
etched and gilded steel 108.8 x 25.2 (423/4 x 97/8); blade, 95.2 x 3.4 (371/2 x P/8)
26 x 22 x 33 (KM x 85/8 x 13) Royal Armory, LRK 13502
Royal Armory, LRK 11441
The Royal Armory's inventory of 1654 refers to this
This helmet is part of a suit of armor that belonged to sword as having belonged to Gustav Vasa and describes
King Gustav Vasa. The armor, dated 1540 in three it as "One sword with gilt-sil ver mounts and artful
places, was bought by the king's merchant Glaus Heijder work, and a chape and upper mount of silver and gilt,
in Augsburg or Nuremberg and registered in the Royal similarly worked. A mount on one quillón lost in a fire;
Wardrobe in 1548 as "a polished suit of armor for man scabbard of black velvet, but old and worn/'
and horse, with two extra helmets, one with a crown, Although the sword may seem heavy and unwieldy,
all with etched and gilt decorations." It is very similar to its design bears witness to the appearance of modern
works by the Augsburg masters Desidferius Colman and Mediterranean fencing in Sweden at this time. Fencing
Matthias Frauenpreis. had not yet acquired strict rules: for instance, both
The visor and hetaet, though of the same period and thrusting and cutting strokes could be delivered with the
workshop, did not originally belong together. Their dec- same weapon; the technique depended on the nature of
orative borders do not quite match, and the upper edge the blade. The blade of Gustav Vasa's sword is typical of
of the visor was cut to fit the helmet, possibly before the the early Italian style of fencing sword, which became
armor was delivered to Sweden. The helmet has a hol- widespread on the Continent toward the middle of the
low rim around the lower edge so that it could lock and sixteenth century. It is straight and two-edged, with an
rotate on the roped top of the gorget. arrowlike stamp on the outside at the ricasso. It may
The fashion for masked visors was introduced in the have been made in Arboga, Sweden, for aie stamp is
beginning of the sixteenth century with the fluted reminiscent of the Diefstatter family's, and Markus Dief-
"Maximilian" armors, at a time when armor was often statter was one of the leading swordsmiths at the factory
used for ceremonial functions at festivals. Many of these founded there in 1551. But the stamp also resembles
visors present an even more grotesque appearance than that used by Wolfgang Stantler in Munich, who was
the one exhibited;here. The so-called Will Somers hel- active during the same period.
met at the Tower Of London includes spectacles and rams- The hilt, of dark annealed steel with engraved mounts
horns, and a helmet in the Imperial Armory in Vienna of gilded silver, is an early example of an elaborate sys-
by Seusenhofer rías a visor in the form of a wolfs or tem of bars and rings to protect the hand, which on this
fox's head. One convenience of such helmets was that hilt are below the cross-guard to allow the "Italian"
the protruding visors made the interior of the helmets grip, which involved curling the index finger around the
more spacious, so it was easier to breathe in them. N.D. quillón in order to achieve closer control of the weapon.
The quillons have square ends, decorated with ara-
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Heribert Seitz, "Rustningen frân 1540/' Gustav besques and with cast lions' masks. The rear mount of
Vasa-minnen (Stockholm, 1928), 103-108, 113 (plate); Karl the quillón is a replacement, the original having been
Erik Steneberg, "Harnesksmide i Gustav II Adolfs rustkam- destroyed in the castle fire of 1642. The grip is covered
mare," Livrustkammaren 9 (1961-1963), 162-165; Laking with silver wire, alternately twisted and smooth.
1920-1921, 95-102 (on grotesque helmets). On the quillón center and the ricasso of the blade a
socket of gilt silver is engraved with a mythological fig-
ure—a genius rising among birds and foliage—probably
intended to match the mounts of the lost scabbard. L.N.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Âke Meyerson, Svàrdet och vàrjan, Gustav Vasa-

minnen (Stockholm, 1928), 145, 146, 153, 159, 161; Seitz
1955/72-76 (summary, 367-368); Seitz 1948, 94-101; Seitz
1965, 1:308-309; Hans Stochlein, "Münchener Klingen-
schmiede," Zeitschrift fur Historische Waffen- und Kostumkunst,
vol. 5 (1909-1911), 286, nn. 16-17.

68
 Erik XIV 1533-1577

BORN IN 1533, Erik was less than two years old when
his mother, Katarina of Saxony-Lauenburg, died. He re-
ceived a thorough education in keeping with the con-
temporary ideals of a Renaissance prince: he was well-
versed in different subjects and could draw, paint, and
play the lute. His education also included learning to
exercise power unflinchingly toward his own ends, put-
ting sudden, brute force before negotiations, and not
being too particular about keeping his promises.
From the beginning of his reign, Erik had trouble
with his younger half-brother John, who was exercising
independent control in his duchy of Finland. Erik there-
fore took John prisoner in 1563 and incarcerated him
for four years at Gripsholm Castle to keep him out of
harm's way. But the king evidently saw his royal status
threatened from many quarters, and when pressed, he
was capable of acting with unpremeditated fury. A situ-
ation of this kind developed in 1567, when he had im-
Detail, cat. 7 prisoned several members of the powerful Sture family

70
in Uppsala Castle. Erik himself sparked the murder of
Nils, Svante, and Erik Sture by stabbing Nils in a sud-
den fit of mental confusion, after which his mercenaries
did the rest.
The following year the king married a seventeen-
year-old commoner, Karin Mánsdotter, who had been
one of his concubines for several years, and had her
crowned queen in a provocatively extravagant corona-
tion ceremony. This touched off a rebellion and Erik
was deposed and put in prison by his two half-brothers.
He was succeeded on the throne by one of them, who
would reign as John III. Erik's troubled life came to an
end in 1577, presumably by poison. He was buried in
Vàsterâs Cathedral but did not acquire a proper tomb
until two hundred years later. From the beginning,
however, an appropriate Old Testament text (I Kings
2:15) was displayed at the grave: "Howbeit the king-
dom is turned about, and is become my brother's: for it
was his from the LORD/' U.G.J.

Detail, cat. 6

71
6 rade armor made a readily intelligible symbol of the
heroic grandeur of the owner.
Parade Armor of Erik XIV c. 1560-1563 This type of armor resulted from the combined efforts
of three master craftsmen: armorer, designer, and gold-
probably Swedish; decorated by Eliseus Libaerts, il. in smith. For a long time Erik XIVs parade armor was
Antwerp 1557-1564 (chanfron made separately) believed to have been the work of French, Italian, or
steel and gold south German masters. But surviving accounts reveal
armor, 170 (67) high; close helmet, 29 x 35 x 27 (lP/ 8 x 133/4 that it came from Antwerp. During the early years fol-
x 105/8); saddle, 46 x 57 x 69 (18 x 22V2 x 271/8); shield, 56 lowing Erik's accession in 1560, many large purchases
(22) diam.; chanfron, 51 x 29 (20 x H3/8) were made and orders placed in Antwerp for jewelry,
Royal Armory, 2605, 2902, 2930, 22/9 silver, costumes, other textiles, and arms. Receipts indi-
cate that a goldsmith named Eliseus Libaerts in Antwerp
was paid for parade armor completed and delivered to
Eric XIV was well apprised of the forms and accessories King Erik in 1562. Libaerts, not previously known to
of princely splendor. He owned a copy of Castiglione's scholars, is mentioned in the guild rolls of Antwerp be-
"Book of the Courtier" in which he could read, for ex- tween 1557 and 1564.
ample, that beautiful weapons caught the eye of the Libaerts planned to deliver a second suit of armor to
people. For ceremonial purposes, magnificent armor like King Erik in person in 1564, but a war was on, and he
that shown here could be worn by the king himself or was taken prisoner in Denmark while traveling to Swe-
by his squire. Its embossed high-relief figures and den. Erik tried unsuccessfully to secure the release of Li-
borders damascened with gold stand out against a baerts and the armor. After a couple of years, Libaerts
punched, originally blackened steel ground. The decora- was freed, but he stayed in Denmark in the service of
tion features female jinns, prisoners in chains, battle Frederick II, where his duties included the production of
scenes, trailing acanthus, trophies, and fruit groups. It medals. Also at the Danish court was the German gold-
also includes themes directly alluding to the owner—the smith David Cnoep, who acquired the armor that Li-
Swedish Vasa emblem, the Three Crowns, and the Folk- baerts had decorated for Erik XIV. This armor was sold
ung Lion. in 1606 by Cnoep's son in Nuremberg to the elector
The chanfron, with its etched and gilded ground, de- Christian II of Saxony. That armor, decorated with the
parts from the design of the rest of the armor. It was Swedish Vasa crest and Three Crowns, is still in Dres-
ordered by Erik as part of a second garniture, which den, together with another suit of similar design by the
was intercepted and seized by the Danes en route to same master. Closely related specimens exist in Vienna,
Sweden, subsequently finding its way to Dresden. The Dresden, Paris, New York, Copenhagen, Stockholm
chanfron was delivered to Erik in 1563. (Skokloster shield, cat. 7), and London.
This parade armor was doubtlessly used for one of the Surviving correspondence between Erik XIV and Li-
many festive processions—both martial and peaceable— baerts makes clear that the king had the second suit of
that King Erik organized. One was staged during the - armor forged in Sweden and then sent to Antwerp for
war with Denmark between 1563 and 1570, when Erik decoration. It is not certain, but quite probable, that
returned to Stockholm in 1564 "in great triumph/' Erik did the same with the armor on display here. The
bringing with him trophies and prisoners in chains— only workshop that could possibly have handled this
a living illustration of the decoration on his armor. kind of assignment in the Vasa period was the Arboga
Ornaments and figures embossed and chiseled in re- factory, founded in 1551 by Erik's father, Gustav Vasa.
lief became an essential part of the armorer's art during A large number of German master craftsmen were em-
the sixteenth century. Armor had developed into a kind ployed there—gunsmiths, swordsmiths, and armorers—
of ceremonial dress for tournaments and other gala oc- and their work was very highly regarded. But no gold-
casions, at the same time the growing power of firearms smithing was done in the Arboga factory as a rule; this
was depriving armor of its protective usefulness. The work was usually done in Stockholm or abroad.
field was thus free for decorative elaboration. The scenes It is not known who drew the designs of the decora-
depicted on this garniture of King Erik's were to a great tions for the Stockholm garniture. Some designs are ex-
extent inspired by the triumphs in ancient Greece and tant in the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich,
Rome, a reflection of the Renaissance fascination with and have been attributed to the French artist Etienne
the life an^ art of the classical world. Erik XIV, ever re- Delaune. This would make King Erik's parade armor a
ceptive to developments in the ceremonial arts, intro- combination of Swedish manufacture, French design,
duced this new means of exalting his royal,status. The and Netherlandish craftsmanship. L.R.
heroes, chained prisoners, and trophy groups of the pa-

72
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Rudolf Cederstrôm and Karl Erik Steneberg, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Oct. 1952), 68-80;
Skokloster Skolden (Stockholm, 1945); Bruno Thomas, "Neues Stephen V. Grancsay, "Royal Armorers: Antwerp or Paris,"
zum Werk des Eliseus Libaerts," Livrustkammaren 4 (1948); The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (summer 1959), 1-7;
Bruno Thomas, "Die Munchner Harnischvorzeichnungen im Helmut Nickel, "The Battle of the Crescent," The Metropolitan
Stil François 1er," JKSW 55 (1959), 31-74; Bruno Thomas, Museum of Art Bulletin (Nov. 1965), 110-127; Laking 1920-
"Die Munchner Waffenvorzeichnungen des Etienne Delaune 1921, 3:342-358, 4:246-259; Sir James Mann, European Arms
und die Prunkschilde Heinrichs II von Frankreich," JKSW 58 and Armor (Wallace Collection catalogues), 2 vols. (London,
(1962), 101-168 (esp. 146-165); Bruno Thomas, "Die 1962), nos. A320 and 321; J. Schôbel, Bin Prunkharnisch
Munchner Harnischvorzeichnungen des Etienne Delaune für (Dresden, 1966); L'Ecole de Fontainebleau [exh. cat., Grand Pa-
die Emblem- und die Schlangen-Garnitur Heinrichs II von lais] (Paris, 1972), 419, nos. 80, 252-258, 580-585; Claude
Frankreich," JKSW 56 (1960), 7-62; Bruno Thomas, "Die Blair, Arms, Armour, and Base-Metalworkf The James A. Roths-
Munchner Harnischvorzeichnungen mit Rankendekor des child Collection at Waddesdon Manor (Aylesbury, 1974),
Etienne Delaune," JKSW 61 (1965), 41-90; Stephen V. cat. 9; Meyerson and Rangstróm 1984, 30-33, 333-334.
Grancsay, "The Armor of Henry II from the Louvre Museum,"

7 style (ten figures in chains and heroic scenes). A large

number of punches were used for the chasing. The bor-
Skokloster Shield c. 1560 ders are damascened with gold on the blued steel
ground, with the brightly polished figurative scenes in
Eliseus Libaerts, fl. in Antwerp, 1557-1564
striking contrast.
steel with gold and silver A detailed study of the Skokloster Shield was pub-
71.9 x 49.2 x 3.8 (281/4 x 193/8 x IV2) lished in 1945 by Karl Erik Steneberg, drawing on com-
Skokloster Castle Museum, 7133 prehensive, unpublished preparatory studies by Rudolf
Cederstrôm (from 1924 onward). Cederstrôm and Stene-
berg show that although the Skokloster Shield—like an
Skokloster was built during the second half of the almost identical shield in Vienna—bears neither signa-
seventeenth century by constable of the realm Count ture nor stamp, its workmanship is very close to that of
Carl Gustav Wrangel (1613-1676). The castle, just over the parade armor of Erik XIV in the Royal Armory (cat.
40 miles northwest of Stockholm, is a monument on 6). Since written records link that garniture with Eliseus
the grand scale to the integration of Swedish culture Libaerts of Antwerp, this shield is also attributed to him.
with that of mainstream Europe of the time, and one of The design for a shield with four masks in the Staatliche
the most famous objects in its collections is the Skoklos- Graphische Sammlung, Munich, which closely corre-
ter Shield, a European masterpiece of the highest order. sponds to the Skokloster Shield, is attributed, on stylistic
This shield represents the beginning of the "European! - grounds, to Etienne Delaune.
zation" of Sweden during the reign of Erik XIV. Cederstrôm and Steneberg put forward the hypothesis
Erik XIV, although perhaps more "European" than that the Skokloster Shield could be the same shield
any of his brothers or his father, Gustav Vasa, never ac- listed in Erik XIV's inventory of March 1562 and not in-
tually traveled abroad. The foremost expert on his reign, cluded in the above-mentioned armor. That shield re-
Ingvar Andersson, has shown how this was offset by a curs in an inventory of the royal collections in 1628 but
well-stocked library and by personal contacts with sol- not in a list from January 1630. Gustavus Adolphus is
diers, physicians, artists, and musicians from France, supposed to have given it to field marshal Herman
Italy, England, and other countries. Erik established Wrangel, which would account for its subsequent ap-
both a political and a cultural intelligence system, and pearance in the armory of Wrangel's son, Carl Gustav. If
in this way was a forerunner of Axel Oxenstierna, Erik was indeed the shield's first owner, then—in view
Queen Christina, Wrangel, and other seventeenth- of its triumphal theme—it may possibly have been car-
century personalities. ried in one of the king's triumphal processions.
For centuries now the shield has fascinated visitors to Another hypothesis maintains that the shield did not
Skokloster, and it has inspired many imaginative attri- belong to Erik XIV but was intended for him, that Li-
butions, such as "shield of the Emperor Charles V, baerts had it with him when he was arrested in Den-
made by Benvenuto Cellini/' It is of chased and em- mark on his way to Sweden in 1564. The two countries
bossed steel damascened with gold and silver, and its were then at war, and the shield may have been confis-
main decoration is a triumphal theme in the mannerist cated, finding its way into the imperial collections in

74
 John III 1537-1592
and Sigismund III 1566-1032
Prague (the possibility of the shield's coming from JOHN (JOHAN) WAS BORN in 1537, the eldest son of Gus-
Prague was discussed by the Czech scholar B. Dudik tav Vasa by his second wife, Margareta Leijonhufvud.
after a visit to Skokloster in 1851). He was given the duchy of Finland by his father, and as
Âke Meyerson has published several studies on the an adult began to pursue his own foreign policy, with
questions surrounding the provenance of the Skokloster particular emphasis on Livonia and Poland—much to
Shield and has advanced the possibility that the shield the displeasure of his elder half-brother Erik XIV. In
was made for the coronation of Emperor Maximilian in 1562, defying Erik's wishes, twenty-five-year-old John
1564 (see Meyerson and Rangstrôm 1984). Meyerson married the sister of the king of Poland, Katarina Jagel-
recovered a 1651 inventory of Wrangel's armory at the lonica, who was eleven years his senior. John and Ka-
Castle of Wolgast in Swedish Pomerania, where Wran- tarina were imprisoned by Erik the following year at Grips-
gel was Swedish governor-general at the time. The list holm Castle, where they remained for four years. On
includes the shield but does not give its previous his- being released, John made common cause with his
tory. Meyerson is inclined to believe that Wrangel ac- younger brother Charles, and took up arms against the
quired the shield during the closing stages of the Thirty now mentally disturbed Erik XIV, deposing him and
Years War rather than inheriting it from his father putting him in prison in 1568.
through the generosity of Gustavus Adolphus. A.L. John succeeded Erik on the throne but soon found
himself reigning less securely than he might have
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Rudolf Cederstrôm and Karl Erik Steneberg, hoped. His kingdom was at war on several fronts, the
Skokloster Skôlden (Stockholm, 1945); Meyerson and Rang- nobility were becoming increasingly disaffected, and the
strôm 1984; B. Dudik, Schweden in Bohmen und Màhren (Vi-
rate of inflation was out of control. In addition, the
enna, 1879); Ingvar Andersson, Svenskt och europeiskt femton-
Swedish Lutherans, headed by John's younger brother
hundratal (Lund, 1943).

76
Charles, were increasingly suspicious of John Ill's sym-
pathies toward the Church of Rome. John had hoped to
unite Sweden and Poland under a single crown, which
in his belief could be more readily achieved if Sweden
reverted to the old faith.
Unification became a possibility when John's son
Sigismund was elected king of Poland in 1587, fifteen
years after the death of his uncle, Sigismund August II.
When John died in 1592, however, Sigismund had to
struggle to obtain the Swedish throne. He was crowned
king of Sweden in 1593, but his uncle Charles used reli-
gious and other issues to finally depose him in 1598.
Sigismund remained in Poland for the rest of his life,
but he never renounced his claim to the Swedish
throne, and constantly conspired to win back the
kingdom. U.G.J.

Detail, cat. 9

77
8 The armor has a pointed median ridge on the breast-
plate, dating the suit to the 1550s. The horse armor has
Parade Armor of Sigismund August II a steel-plated bridle and saddle of black velvet, embroi-
of Poland 1550s dered with gold and silver; and the chanfron is provided
with two scrolled ramshorns in similar taste to the gro-
Kunz (Konrad) Lochner the Younger, 1510-1567 tesque masked visors. The entire surface of the pieces is
etched steel, gilt and enameled adorned with etched and gilt strapwork decoration,
partly painted with black and white color known as
194 x 230 x 110 (763/8 x 90V2 x 43V4)
"cold enamel/' The armor is mounted on a seven-
Royal Armory, LRK 2603 (old no.) teenth-century mannequin.
Shown in Minneapolis only The armor was made by Kunz (Konrad) Lochner the
Younger, from the Nuremberg family of armorers. It
bears the mark of the Lochner coat of arms—a lion to-
This armor was made for Sigismund August II of Poland gether with the city mark of Nuremberg—on the neck-
(1520-1572), the last king of the Jagellonica dynasty. piece and pectoral of the horse armor. Lochner was ap-
According to a description of the king by the nuncio pointed armorer to Grand Duke Maximilian II in 1544
Ruggiero in 1568, he was of medium height and lean, and later worked for Sigismund August II of Poland; he
corresponding well to the measure of the armor. went to Poland in person in 1559 to collect payments.
In his will King Sigismund divided his possessions He was the best embosser in sixteenth-century Nurem-
among his sisters, but because only one of them, Prin- berg, and etched and enameled decorations were fre-
cess Anne (1524-1596), was still living in Poland, the quently used on his armors. The name of the etcher is
will was contested, for it gave foreign princesses posses- unknown.
sions that should have reverted to the Polish state at the In the late seventeenth century this armor was dis-
extinction of the dynasty. This caused an international played in Stockholm as the armor of King Christian II of
problem unresolved for many years, to which was Denmark and Sweden (1451-1559) in one of the earli-
added the need to elect a new king of Poland. One can- est European museums. The kings of Sweden were rep-
didate was Prince Sigismund, the seven-year-old son of resented there by the exhibition of armor from the
the late king's younger sister Katarina (1526-1583), Royal Armory, though not necessarily by pieces that
married to Duke John, later King John III, of Sweden. had actually belonged to the kings named. N.D.
But the Polish electorate preferred a French prince,
twenty-two-year-old Henry of Valois, provided that BIBLIOGRAPHY: Wendelin Boeheim, "Meister der Waffen-
he marry the fifty-one-year-old Princess Anne. His schmiedkunst," Zeitschrift fur Historische Waffen- und Kostüm-
reign was short, as he left Poland when his brother, kunde, vol. 1 (Berlin, 1897), 9-10; F. Pulaski, Inventan Zbro-
King Charles IX of France, died in 1574; and he never jowni Ordynacyi Krasimkich (Warsaw, 1909); Hans Stocklein,
married the princess. A second electoral parliament was "Lochner, Kunz d. J," in Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Küst-
convened in Warsaw on 15 December 1575, when Prin- ler (Thieme-Becker), vol. 23 (1929), 306; Josef Aim, Blanka
vapen och skyddsvapen (Stockholm, 1932), 212-214; Renaud
cess Anne herself was elected queen of Poland.
Przezdziecki, "Sigismund Augusts av Polen rustning i Livrust-
In a letter to John III dated 28 September 1574, Prin-
kammaren," Livrustkammaren 2 (1942), 115-130 (English
cess Anne informed him of the electoral process. To summary); Karl Erik Steneberg, "Livrustkammarens Lochner-
mollify him regarding the inheritance, and to secure rustning," Svenska Vapenhistoriska Sallskapets ârsskrift (Stock-
Swedish support, she offered him one of her brother's holm, 1940-1941), 67-77; Karl Erik Steneberg, "Zur Ges-
suits of armor as a gift. In inventories of the Swedish chichte des Stockholmer Lochnerharnisches," Zeitschrift fur
Royal Armory the suit of armor is said to have belonged Historische Waffen- und Kostümkunde, vol. 17 (Berlin, 1944),
to John's son Sigismund. But when Sigismund was de- 31-36; Karl Erik Steneberg, "Harnesksmide i Gustav II Adolfs
throned as king of Sweden in 1598 by his uncle, rustkammare," Livrustkammaren 9 (1961-1963), 166-170.
Charles IX Vasa, the armor was retained in the Royal
Armory.

78
9 The etched and embossed decoration of the round
shield features a legendary scene from the Roman-
Parade Helmet and Round Shield Etruscan war of 508 B.C. Roman citizen Gaius Mucius
c. 1560-1570 Cordus had been caught in the Etruscan camp trying to
kill the king and here burns his right hand on a sacrifi-
Italian cial fire in front of King Porsenna as a demonstration of
chased, embossed, blued, and gilt steel Roman fortitude. The Etruscan king was duly impressed
helmet, 30 x 21 x 37.5 (H 3 / 4 x SV* x 143/4); shield, 58 and released him, and Cordus was afterward given the
(223/4) diam. honorary name "Scaevola," or left-handed, which was
Royal Armory, LRK 17989-17990 also used by his descendants. The inside of the shield
has a lining of red velvet with braces, or enarmes, for
the left forearm and hand.
This helmet and shield, possibly of Milanese workman- A similar helmet and shield are in the Capodimonte
ship, may have come to Sweden through the royal fam- Museum in Naples. Another set is in the Dresden Col-
ily's connection with Poland, since John Ill's consort lection.
Katarina was the daughter of Queen Bona Sforza Many masters have been put forth for the helmet and
(1537-1592), the Milanese princess who married Sigis- shield shown here. Viennese scholars have suggested
mund I of Poland. The objects are first mentioned in the Giovanni Battista Serabaglio; Seitz proposed the Negroli
inventories of the Royal Armory in 1655, perhaps also workshop in Milan; and lately it has been said that the
in an inventory of the armory of Charles X at Gripsholm helmet and shield do not belong together, the former
Castle a year before. But they may have been part of being possibly Lombardian, and the shield made in the
the booty from Warsaw or Cracow in 1655. An unveri- Italian style in France or the Netherlands. N.D.
fied note suggests that they were bought by then-Prince
Charles' emissaries in Nuremberg in the 1640s. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Heribert Seitz, "Two Milanese Masterpieces,"
The two pieces are made in the classical style of the Livrustkammaren 14 (1978), 269-274, pis. 1-3; John F. Hay-
ward, "The Revival of Roman Armour in the Renaissance/' in
sixteenth century. The helmet, a burgonet—open-face
Held 1979, 1:160, pis. 31-32 (Capodimonte pieces); Brynolf
with a peak, cheek pieces, and a neck defense—is Hellner, "Stâlets dekorering inom vapensmidet," Livrustkam-
wrought from a single sheet of dark-hued steel, with a maren 9 (1964), 7, pi. 4; G. Giorgetti, Le armi antiche, vol. 1,
high comb and hinged cheek pieces, one with the re- Le armi Manche (Milan, 1961), 90, 103; E. Hàenel, Kostbare
mains of an armored chin strap. Its embossed and Waffen aus der Dresdner Rüstkammer, vol. 27; R. Wenger,
chased decoration, with gilded details, is devoted to "Rundschild und Sturmhaube, ein Meisterwerk von Lucas Pic-
themes of victory, the central figure on both sides being cinino," Dresdener Kunstblàtter 8 (1960), 129.
Hercules.

80
 Charles IX 1550-1011
OF ALL THE SONS of Gustav Vasa, it was Charles IX who
bore the closest resemblance to his father. He had the
same appetite for power, the same implacability, the
same callousness and fierce temper, and the same ca-
pacity for ruthlessly pleading his cause. Indeed, he
looked upon himself as the true executor of his father's
political testament and the only true guardian of his
work of religious reformation. These were in fact the
causes for which Charles waged an unceasing struggle,
not least because they matched his own purposes.
Gustav Vasa had first allotted Charles the duchy of
Sôdermanland southwest of Stockholm, and in his last
will and testament had given him extensive powers of
self-determination in his miniature kingdom. This al-
lowed Charles unusual independence under the reigns
of his two elder brothers, Erik XIV and John III. When
Erik XIV's mental health began to fail a few years after
his accession, Charles joined John in rebellion and de-
posed him. John assumed the throne in 1569, and for a
time, Charles gladly made his Gripsholm Castle avail-
able as a place of custody for the royal prisoner. Erik
died there in captivity in 1577.

Detail, cat. 10

82
 John Ill's eldest son Sigismund was elected king of
Catholic Poland in 1587 and by hereditary right would
become king of Sweden at his father's death. When
John died in 1592, however, Sigismund was out-
maneuvered by Charles, who realized that sternly Prot-
estant Sweden would never accept a papist heretic as
king. So as not to appear over eager, Charles refrained
from immediately proclaiming himself king, but eventu-
ally he submitted to entreaty and was crowned in 1607.
Charles IX made numerous appearances in the theater
of war, intermittently juggling three wars simultaneous-
ly. His rivalry with Sigismund in Poland precipitated
hostilities time and time again, and when Charles IX
carried the war into Russia (where Swedish troops un-
der Jacob De la Gardie captured Moscow in 1610), the
Danes saw their chance and declared war on Sweden.
At Charles' death in 1611, conflicts had not been settled
in any quarter and were inherited by his son and suc-
cessor Gustavus Adolphus, who at the time was not
even seventeen years old. U.G.J.

83
10
Fittings for Coronation Saddle of Charles IX
1607
Ruprecht Miller, fl. in Stockholm 1606-1623
with—surprisingly on a Swedish royal saddle—German
gilt silver, gold, enamel, precious stones imperial eagles.
cantle, 30 x 54 (IPA x 2PA); left pommel, 12 x 22.4 (4V4 x These saddle mounts are superb examples of the late
83/4); aigrettes, 29 x 10 (IP/s x 4), and 26.5 x 10 (103/8 x 4) Renaissance goldsmith's art, with open-work decoration
Royal Armory, 3341, 3342, 3358, 3359 and grotesques of a Triton, Nereid, and two armored
knights on white horses, as well as a cornucopia, tro-
phies, and dolphins. In the middle of the cantle, a
Charles IX, the youngest son of Gustav Vasa, was eager sheaf—emblem of the Vasa dynasty—is supported by
to demonstrate the powerful position of his branch of two lions. Topaz, rock crystal, smoky quartz, and gar-
the family by commissioning his own symbols of rank nets are mounted in high box settings.
and status and by maintaining a distinctive splendor at The aigrettes, or plume holders, consist of a shaft, an
his coronation ceremony in 1607. Next to the regalia open-work plate with lavish grotesque ornamentation,
(see cat. 3), the ornaments for the coronation horse and three octagonal pipes above. Three loops are fash-
were the most important of the cornation properties. ioned on the reverse side of each shaft. The aigrettes
It is thought that the crescent-shaped cantle plate and were made for the coronation horse of Charles IX and
corresponding left front plate exhibited here were in- were to have been placed on the bridle at the forehead
tended to decorate Charles IX's coronation saddle, but and on the crupper at the horse's tail. They were used
the commissioned suite was never completed. Docu- at the coronation of Gustavus Adolphus in 1617, and
ments show that the extant fittings were delivered in one may have been used by Colonel von Ungern Stern-
1631 by the widow of the German goldsmith, Ruprecht berg when acting as host at Stockholm's Royal Palace in
Miller, who had originally worked in Hamburg but was 1692. A.T.-J.
called to Sweden for Charles' coronation. The crown of
Charles' consort Kristina and the coronation saddle
were among Miller's first assignments in Sweden. He BIBLIOGRAPHY: Andrén 1963, 53; Stockholm 1932, 11; Y.
Hackenbroch, Renaissance Jewellery (London, Munich, 1979),
also made Maria Eleonora's crown in 1620 (cat. 1).
216, fig. 592a-b; Carl Hernmarck, Hamburg und der Schwed-
The decoration of large sections of saddles with gold- ische Hof wàhrend des 17. Jahrhunderts, Festschrift Erich Meyer
smithwork is a tradition that originated in the East and (Hamburg, 1957), 273-275; Bruno Thomas, Die schonsten Waf-
featured art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. fen und Rüstungen (Munich, 1963), no. 64; John F. Hayward,
Another example of this type is the coronation saddle of "The Revival of Roman Armour in the Renaissance/' in Held
Gusta vus Adolphus in 1617, which has plates of gilt sil- 1979, 1:160 n. 2; Cederstrôm and Malmborg 1930, no. 120e;
ver with precious stones and purplish red velvet starred Historiska bilder, 201.

84
11
Chain and Badge of the Royal Order
of Jehova 1606
Antonij Groot the Elder, 1585-1614
gold, enamel, rock crystal, and garnets
chain, 132 (52) long; badge, 7 (23/4) diam.
Royal Armory, LRK 31/21-2

Each of the early Vasa kings created an order identified

by a symbolic emblem, but these were probably not or-
ders of chivalry in the normal sense. No statutes are left
to clarify their meaning, and we do not know how the
orders were awarded or to whom. The titles indicate
that they had strong religious associations, probably par-
allel to the religious justification of the reign embodied
in the coronation ritual itself. The Royal Order of Je-
hova was created by Charles IX in 1606, as his older
brothers had created theirs: Erik XIV the Royal Order of
the Savior, and John III the Royal Order of Agnus Dei.
Four gold chains and four badges of the Order of Je-
hova were delivered to Charles IX in 1606 by master of
the mint Antonij Groot the Elder, who had supervised
the work of other goldsmiths. Among these four were
the chain and badge exhibited here. The chain had
twenty-four (now twenty-three) links, alternatively oval
with table-cut rock crystals and garnets, and "hand-
shakes" holding the Vasa crest of green-enameled gold.
The rock crystal badge, in the form of an eight-pointed
star, bears the Hebrew word JEHOVA in the center, en-
graved and gilt. A ring of garnets encircles the whole,
and a crystal drop-form pendant hangs below the
badge.
Three of the enameled badges were made by the
Stockholm goldsmith Ruprecht Miller: for Gustavus
Adolphus (1594-1632) and Charles Philip (1601-
1622), both sons of the king, and for Duke John of Os-
tergôtland (1589-1618), the youngest son of John III.
The orders were carried at the coronation of Charles IX
in the Uppsala Cathedral on 15 March 1607. They were
counted among the Swedish regalia in the Royal Treas-
ury until 1828, and on the dissolution of that institution
came to the National Historical Collections. In 1932 the
remaining ones were included in the collections of or-
ders and medals in the Royal Armory. Only one enam-
eled badge is still preserved. N.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cederstrom 1942, 165-173 (plate); Andrén

1963, 4:45, 48, 53 (goldsmiths' biographies); Arvid Bergh-
man, Nordiska ordnar och dekorationer (Malmô, 1949), 18-19,
152 (plate); Karl Lôfstrôm, Sveriges riddarordnar (Stockholm,
1948), 146-147; Stockholm 1930-1931, cat. 491.

86
12 made hastily in Gothenburg were of gold but were not
elaborately decorated.
Burial Regalia of Charles IX loll Charles IX died on 13 October 1611 at Nykôping
Castle in his former royal duchy of Sôdermanland. In a
crown by Antoni Grott, d. 1613; scepter and orb by Peter letter of 12 November the dowager queen Kristina
Kempe, fl. in Stockholm 1589-1612
commanded goldsmith Antoni Grott to make a crown
gold with black and white enamel, rock crystals, and pearls "Our Beloved Dear deceased Lord and Husband can
crown, 25 (97/8) high, 19.5 (75/8) diam.; scepter, 71 (28) long; have on his head in the coffin." She also instructed the
orb, 17 (65/8) high master of the household to supply Grott with gold. She
property of Strângnàs Cathedral, deposited since 1980 in the added that since she was unable to procure oriental dia-
Royal Armory monds and since the king in his lifetime had prized
Swedish diamonds (rock crystals) just as highly, Grott
should find out from the master of the household
On the death of a monarch, it is still the custom in whether there was a sufficient number of these; if not,
much of the world for the body to lie in state. This tra- she would supply them. Grott purchased thirty large
dition is rooted in the ancient need to prove to all that and ninety-six small pearls for the crown as well. Peter
the king is dead. By the Middle Ages it had also become Kempe secured from Grott the gold he needed to make
the practice for European royalty to be buried with their the scepter and orb, and he used large rock crystals and
regalia, no doubt inspired by the Christian belief in the twenty-eight pearls to adorn them.
resurrection. The earliest burial regalia have been found The burial regalia were deposited in the coffin before
in the eleventh-century Franconian imperial graves in it was closed. Then the coffin was brought in a three-
Speyer Cathedral. Crowns are the most frequent type of day ceremonial procession from Nykôping Castle to the
insignia found in graves opened in recent times, accom- cathedral at Strângnàs, where the king was buried in
panied in some cases by an orb, scepter, ring, or sword. great state on 21 April 1612. The regalia were removed
Some crowns were clearly made for burial, being sim- from the coffin in 1830.
plified versions of existing ornaments; others may have We know very little about Antoni Grott. He is men-
been worn in the deceased person's lifetime. tioned in 1599, and in 1603 he became master of the
In the second half of the sixteenth century less signifi- mint, which he remained until his death in 1613. Dur-
cance was attached to the sanctity of body, and regalia ing this time he also worked as a jeweler for the Swed-
were usually carried in the funeral procession or placed ish court. His origin is not known, since a notation that
on the coffin but not buried. The spread of this innova- he came from the Brabant has proved to be erroneous.
tion was associated with the consolidation of Europe's The preserved jewelry from his hand shows that he was
kingdoms and the acceptance of royal ornaments as a highly skilled craftsman. A brilliant example is
state regalia. Previously the insignia had been consid- Charles IX's burial crown, where large rock crystals
ered the personal property of the kings and queens. In heighten the impression of pomp and dignity as they
Sweden the burial of regalia continued through the stand out against the sweeping detail of the decorative
seventeenth century, but special works were made for components. The prominence given to precious stones
this to substitute for the national regalia. in the late sixteenth century highlighted refinements in
The burial regalia of Charles IX and his consort, Kris- gem-cutting on the Continent. Peter Kempe was active
tina, display outstanding workmanship and the finest as a goldsmith in Stockholm between 1589 and 1621
materials, suggestive of regalia used in life. The kingly and had several assignments for the court during this
regalia are made of gold and decorated with black and time (see cat. 3). B.H.
white enamel, alternating on the crown with a fine pat-
tern of punched dots and stars. Table-cut rock crystals BIBLIOGRAPHY: Andrén 1963, 4:50; Hans Gillingstam, "Mynt-
are mounted in raised box settings, which produce a màstaren Antoni Grott och guldsmeden Antonius de Croeck/'
grayish black shimmer in the stones; and pearls in ro- Nordisk numismatisk àrsskrift 1968 (Lund, 1969), 88-93; Martin
settes or atop standards on the crown contribute to the Olsson, Vasagraven i Uppsala Domkyrka 2 (Uppsala, 1956), 58;
C. A. Ossbahr, "Ett minne fran Gustaf II Adolfs likbegàn-
black-and-white effect. These works mark the culmina-
gelse," Ora och bild (1894); K. Schmidt, Anteckningar om Rone
tion of a tradition of magnificent burial regalia that hàrad (Nykôping, 1896), 120; Twining 1967; Riksarkivet,
started with Gustav Vasa in 1560. When Gustavus Kungl, arkiv, Strôdda kamerala handlingar, vol. 54.
Adolphus died in 1632, no burial regalia were used,
partly because those commissioned in Germany by his
consort, Maria Eleonora, were rejected as being too
simple. At the death of Charles X in 1660, the regalia

88
 13
Burial Regalia of Queen Kristina 1626
possibly Ruprecht Miller, fl. in Stockholm 1606-1623, or Gillis
Coyet the Younger, fl. 1614-1629
gold with black enamel
crown, 12.5 (47/8) high; scepter, 51 (20) long; orb, 12.5 (47/8)
high
property of Strangnas Cathedral, deposited since 1980 in the
Royal Armory

Queen Kristina of Holstein-Gottorp (1573-1625), sec-

ond consort of Charles IX, died at Nykôping Castle in
December 1625, and her son, King Gusta vus Adolphus,
ordered a crown, scepter, and orb to be made for her
burial. He specified that they were to be of gold, deco-
rated with black enamel, with no precious stones.
The predominance of black is a notable feature of
these regalia. The crown is decorated with a pattern of
flowers and scrollwork in black enamel and worked
gold, while the scepter and orb are entirely covered
with an elegant tendril pattern in gold against the sur-
rounding black enamel. Lord Twining has suggested
that the reason black was used is that Kristina died a
widow, but black was also widely used for coronation
regalia at this time. It may have been in fashion gener-
ally, and accordingly, found its way onto royal insignia.
The maker of these regalia is not known, but Ru-
precht Miller is a possible name. He came from Ham-
burg to work for Kristina in 1606 and made, among
other things, the coronation regalia for Queen Maria
Eleonora in 1620 (see cat. 1). It would also have been
natural for the commission to go to the master of the
mint, Gillis Coyet the Younger.
Queen Kristina was buried at Strangnas Cathedral be-
side her husband. Her regalia were removed from the
coffin in 1830. B.H.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Andrén 1963, 4:50; Twining 1967, 308; Riks-
arkivet, Kungl, arkiv, Strodda kamerala handlingar, K. 79.

90
 Gustavus Adolphus 1594-1032
THERE is ONE YEAR in Swedish history that every school-
child knows, namely 1632—and many could add to it
the exact day and month, 6 November. That date marks
the death of Gustavus Adolphus (Gustav II Adolf). Why,
of all the many kings of Sweden, should his death still
be such a living memory after 350 years? First and fore-
most, because he died a hero, fighting for what Swedes
believe to have been a just cause: the survival of Protes-
tantism and the position achieved by Lutheranism under
his grandfather, Gustav Vasa, a hundred years earlier. In
actual fact, Gustavus Adolphus was also looking for ter-
ritorial gains for Sweden and a Swedish empire around
the Baltic. There is no denying his great success at war.
Moreover, he was a good-looking man with a remark-
able gift for oratory and impressing everyone he met.
Gustavus Adolphus was not quite seventeen when he
became king of Sweden following the death of his
father, Charles IX, in 1611. His inheritance included
three ongoing wars: against Russia, Poland, and Den-
mark. Thus he immediately went off on campaign, and
spent most of the rest of his life on the battlefield. The
Swedish Riksdag in its wisdom had granted Gustavus
Adolphus permission to wage war as much as he liked,
except on Swedish soil.

92
 A number of truly enduring initiatives on behalf of days later she was crowned queen of Sweden.
Swedish culture were taken by Gustavus Adolphus. He In 1630 Gustavus Adolphus decided to intervene in
donated a large number of estates to Uppsala University, the war that had been raging on the Continent for
thereby restoring the health and vigor of that ailing twelve years—the Thirty Years War, as it is commonly
academy. Today his gift is of vast importance to the uni- known—and made his way to Germany. The queen
versity finances. The king also gave orders for the addi- joined him there the following year, plunging extrava-
tion of a splendid warship named Vasa to the Swedish gantly into the brilliant life of the Swedish court in its
navy. Although it capsized and sank in Stockholm while winter quarters in Frankfurt and at Mainz. Maria Eleo-
putting out on its maiden voyage in August 1628, it has nora was still in Germany when Gustavus Adolphus fell
been salvaged in our own time and found to be in sur- at the Battle of Lützen in November 1632. Grief for her
prisingly good condition. Since then, it has been exhib- husband seemed to bring out a streak of insanity in
ited in a specially constructed museum and has attracted Maria Eleonora, and eventually her daughter Christina
millions of visitors from all over the world. was taken to live with her aunt and uncle. After years
Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg (1599-1655) lived of living at Gripsholm Castle against her will and then
for twelve years as the consort of Gustavus Adolphus wandering disconsolately from Denmark to Prussia and
and for almost twice that long as his widow. Dynastic Brandenburg, she finally returned to Sweden in 1648
marriages in those days could be as significant as mili- and died in 1655, a year after her daughter's abdication.
tary alliances, and Maria Eleonora's brother, the elector She was buried beside her husband in Riddarholm
of Brandenburg, had at first refused to release her, Church, Stockholm. U.G.J.
afraid that her marriage might disrupt his relations with
Poland. At the last minute, however, her mother had
Maria Eleonora secretly conveyed to Wismar, where
Swedish ships were waiting. In November 1620 she was
married to Gustavus Adolphus in Stockholm, and three

93
14
Gustavus Adolphus c. 1629
attributed to Jacob van Doordt
gouache, capsule of gold with ground glass front
6.2 (21/2) high
Royal Collections, ss 247

A Dutch embassy to Stockholm in 1616 gave the fol-

lowing description of Gustavus Adolphus: "His Majesty
was tall of stature, well-proportioned, with a fair com-
plexion and rather long face, blonde hair and a pointed
beard tinged slightly with yellow/' The king first had his
portrait painted when he was a very young heir appar-
ent. Numerous other portraits appeared in due course,
and a real spate of them followed Sweden's intervention
in the Thirty Years War, since they were part of the
highly successful Protestant propaganda campaign dur-
ing the conflict. Stories have come down to us of fine
ladies of the period wearing brooches with the king of
Sweden's portrait, like the image of a saint. In 1932, as
part of the tercentenary commemoration of the death of
Gustavus Adophus, an inventory was compiled of
known contemporary portraits. The list mentioned 276
of them.
Surviving accounts record that Jacob van Doordt
painted a succession of portraits of Gustavus Adolphus
in 1629. This artist's portraits are generally characterized
by strict, almost static composition and minuteness of
detail. Stylistic considerations, coupled with knowledge
that van Doordt was retained as a court painter in 1629,
have made it natural to attribute this portrait to him.
Jacob van Doordt (or van der Doort) came of a Flem-
ish family of artists working as portrait painters and
wax carvers at many of the royal courts of Europe. Sev-
eral sources refer to him as a portrait painter from Ham-
burg, which has led some scholars to believe that he
was a native of that city. A number of his earliest
known works were done there, and this, most probably,
accounts for the reference to Hamburg. Van Doordt was
a traveling court painter, working mainly at the courts
of Denmark, Sweden, and north Germany. G.A.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm, 1930-1931; Fogelmarck 1982;

Stockholm 1966; Boo von Malmborg, Samtiaa portrait av Gus-
tav II: Popular sammanfatting [exh. cat., Nationalmuseum]
(Stockholm, 1944); Sixten Strômbom, Iconographia Gustavi
Adolphi (Stockholm, 1932).

94
15
Doublet of Red and Gold Brocade
of Gustavus Adolphus c. 1610
Italian brocade, Swedish needlework
gold lampas broché: red silk ground with floating weft of gold
wire; lining of russet taffeta
43.5 x 46 (171/8 x IS'/s), with sleeve 66 (26) long
Royal Armory, 3349

This man's front-buttoning doublet—with a pointed

front, long, shaped sleeves with shoulder wings, and a
stand collar—was worn by the teenage King Gustavus
Adolphus. The king was expected to dress in the latest
fashion, and a large number of tailors and pearl em-
broiderers were always employed at the Swedish court.
This doublet of costly fabric, presumably from Italy, was
probably made to fit the king in Stockholm.
A doublet of this kind was commonly accompanied
by knee breeches of fine broadcloth, gathered at the
knees, and often decorated with galloon. Such breeches
were worn by the king on campaign in Germany in
1627 and are now in the Royal Armory collections (see
Fogelmarck figs. 2 and 3). There were no uniforms as
we know them today, and the "field dress" of the time
was often outstandingly elegant. The accoutrements in-
cluded a baldric for the sword, a long linen shirt with a
more or less elaborate collar, long stockings, extra
stockings to be worn with boots, the boots themselves,
gloves, and a hat. The reason this doublet still survives
may be that it was unusually expensive and not often
worn. The stiffeners would have made it such a close fit
that the king soon would have grown out of it. G.E.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1932, no. 24; Stockholm 1982,
no. 27.

95
 16 17
Doublet of Gold and Silver Brocade Purple Costume and Cassock
of Gustavus Adolphus 1620s of Gustavus Adolphus 1620
probably Italian brocade and Swedish needlework Sebastian Lellij; assembled by Balizar Dinet
lampas broché: white and silver ground woven in yellow and purple broadcloth, purple silk satin, blue taffeta, white linen;
gold; lining of yellow taffeta embroidery of gold
43.5 X 22 (ITVs x 85/8) (width at waist), with sleeve 64 cassock, 59 (23^4) long, with hanging sleeves 68 (263/t) long;
(251/4) long breeches, 68 x 53 (263/4 x 207/8) (at waist); doublet, 42.4
-I Royal Armory, 3373 (165/8) long, with sleeves 60 (235/8)
Royal Armory, 3347a-b, 3351

This pale brocade doublet may have been worn by Gus-

tavus A"do|phus somewhat later in the 1620s than the This elegant purple costume was included in an order
one of red brocade (cat. 15). This is suggested by the placed with the Hamburg jeweler Sebastian Lellij in
greater lengtli and smaller number of overlapping tabs 1620, an order prompted by Gustavus Adolphus' mar-
at the waist and the slits made in the seams of the riage to German princess Maria Eleonora of Branden-
sleeves to display the fine shirt. One can trace the devel- burg. The costume worn by the king during the actual
opment toward the satin doublet worn by Gustavus wedding ceremony is not extant. But three garments
Adolphus in the German War at the storming of the survive from the wedding festivities, including: the cas-
Kleinwerdcr Bastion near Danzig on 24 May 1627, sock, knee breeches, and tight doublet exhibited hère.
which he bequeathed, with its appurtenant broadcloth They were probably combined with a coat, stockings,
breeches and linen shirt, to the Royal Armory as a per- baldric, gloves, shoes with rosettes, and an elaborate
petual memento (see Fogelmarck fig. 2). G.E. lace collar to make up the cofnplete costume-^not to
mention jewelry, which was also an important compQ-
; BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1932, no. 27; Stockholm 1982, nent of the ensemble.
no. 40.

96
 The cassock has a sharply pointed front waist and
hanging sleeves with shoulder wings; it buttons diago-
18
nally across the left front. The breeches, which are lined Partisan for Yeomen of the Guard
in white linen, are very wide and gathered into bands at of Gustavus Adolphus 1626
the waist and knees. Both cassock and breeches are of
broadcloth decorated with scattered stylized floral sprigs Dutch
in gold wire and spangles. The satin doublet is embroi- steel, chiseled and etched; wood
dered in gold in a larger-scale floral pattern.
207 (81V2) long; blade, 48 (187/8) long
The king's own tailor, Balizar Dinet, was in charge of
sewing the different parts of these garments together, Royal Armory, LRK 5675
after receiving the embroidered pieces cut to shape from
the German workshop. The embroidery on the purple Partisans and most other pole arms were mainly cere-
satin doublet resembles the gold embroidery on a large monial by the seventeenth century. From a functional
velvet caparison, also in the Royal Armory, which was weapon with simple lines and sharp edges, it had devel-
ordered from Lellij three years earlier for Gustavus oped into a blade with elaborate contours and blunt
Adolphus' coronation. We thus have an indication here edges. These partisans were carried by the yeomen of
of the style that appealed to the king. G.E. the guard, the palace guards of Gustavus Adolphus,
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Karl Erik Steneberg, "En drákt med kasak frán both in the palace and in ceremonial processions.
1620" (A Dress with Cassock from 1620), Livrustkammaren 1 Under a contract with the Swedish crown, the Am-
(1939), 12; Karl Erik Steneberg, "Draktmodet under 1600- sterdam merchant Louis de Geer was to deliver parti-
talet," Svenska folket genpín tiderna, vol. 4 (Malmô, 1939); sans, halberds, and drums to Stockholm in 1618.
Tydén-Jordan 1987, 46-48 (fig.). Another shipment of partisans was ordered for the wed-
ding of Gustavus Adolphus and Maria Eleonora of
Brandenburg on 25 November 1620. On 23 February
1626 the master of the artillery was told to order an-
other sixty partisans of the same form as those of 1620,
to be delivered to Stockholm as soon as the seas were
free of ice.
None of the 1620 partisans remains, and of the 1626
shipment, this is the only intact partisan that survives. It
has a chiseled and etched decoration on the blade, with
the monogram of the king, GARS (Gustavus Adolphus
Rex Sveciae), together with the date 1626 and the
Swedish coat of arms with lion supporters. The crown
on the escutcheon is not a royal crown but similar to an
imperial crown. There is a fragmentary blade in the
Nordic Museum, Stockholm (inv. no. 115.761), refash-
ioned into a chopper. N.B.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Heribert Seitz, Bardisanen som svenskt drabant-
och befàlsvapen (Stockholm, 1943), 64, pi. 32 (p. 115, English
summary); Stockholm 1932, no. 548; Stockholm 1982.

98
 19
Tabard from the Court of Gustavus Adolphus
1617-1632
Swedish
blue velvet, blue silk satin, gold galloon, gold bobbin lace,
lining of blue taffeta, gold thread
80 x 110 (31 1 /2x43 1 / 4 )
Royal Armory, 3339

Heralds usually walked in pairs at the head of solemn

royal processions, carrying heraldic staves as tokens of
their dignity. They wore sleeveless, or short-sleeved,
outer garments, open at the sides and embroidered both
front and back with heraldic shields. Drawings from
1594 depict such heralds in the funeral procession for
John III in 1592. The tabard shown here displays the
great Swedish coat of arms with the crest of the Vasa
dynasty. The coat of arms, which has been inverted, is
relief embroidered in gold on blue satin. G.E.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cederstrôm and Malmborg 1930, no. 63;
Stockholm 1982, no. 76.

100
20
Coats of Arms from the Funeral Procession
of Gustavus Adolphus 1633-1634
Jórgen Seywollt
silk mounted on paper, embroidery in gold, silver, and colored
silks
57.2 x 38.1 (221/2 x 15); 55.9 x 38.7 (22 x IS1/*); 55.9 x 38.7
(22 x IS1/*); 57.2 x 38.7 (22 J /> x IS1/*)
Royal Armory, 3873.10a, 3873.24b, 3763.6b, 3873.9b

Funeral processions have been a part of the Swedish

royal ceremonial tradition since the time of Gustav
Vasa. These pageants of mourning, some of which are
known from contemporary descriptions, drawings, or
engravings (fig. 20a), were given a touch of color in the
form of heraldic banners that were carried in proces-
sion. A number of the banners and caparisons from the
funeral of Gustavus Adolphus have been preserved to
this day, along with almost all of those from the proces-
sion following the death of Charles X (see cat. 40).
No less than sixty-six embroidered arms, representing
the duchies, counties, and provinces of the realm, were
displayed on horses at Gustavus Adolphus' funeral,
22 June 1634, and four are exhibited here. The arms of
Sudermania (Sôdermanland) are gold with a black grif-
fin. Those from western Bothnia (Vásterbotten) are blue
with a gold reindeer and "semé" (strewn) with silver
stars. The third, from northern Finland (Satakunta), is
more complex: it is divided "per fess" (horizontally)
blue with two gold stars, and gold with a black bear 20a. Anonymous drawing of the funeral procession of Charles IX
raising a silver sword. The fourth is from Estonia, one of (detail), 1611, showing the manner in which embroidered shields
the overseas Baltic provinces, which is today a part of were used on banners and horse caparisons for royal funerals, cour-
the Soviet Union: the arms are gold with three blue tesy Royal Armory
lions "passant" (walking). All four were embroidered in
Hamburg by Jorgen Seywollt. His name and the names
of three other embroiderers involved in this project are
known from surviving accounts. A.H.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1932, no. 62; Stockholm 1982.

102
 The Thirty Years War
THE THIRTY YEARS WAR comprised a series of conflicts
that lasted from 1618 to 1648, part of an even longer
struggle on the part of a number of states aimed at al-
tering the balance of power in Europe. The wars were
fought mostly on German soil and pitted the Habsburg
powers of Spain and Austria against a number of largely
Protestant German principalities fighting against the im-
perial ambitions of the Habsburgs. There was an impor-
tant religious dimension to the conflicts in that the
elected Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II
wanted to rule as an absolute monarch, and envisioned
the recatholicization of German states that had been
Protestant since the early sixteenth century. This an-
gered many electors, Catholic as well as Protestant, for
in addition to religious rights, each principality's inde-
pendence in the empire's affairs was in jeopardy.
Although many perceived the survival of Protestant-
ism as an issue in the conflict, the major alliances were
Detail, cat. 21
not formed on the basis of religious creed alone. The
electors and princes were supported by the Dutch, who

104
at that time were trying to gain independence from
Spain, and by Catholic France, who realized that further
Habsburg domination in Europe would limit their own
territorial ambitions. Poland was closely allied to Austria
by religion and tradition and fought for the imperalists.
Denmark and later Sweden were encouraged to enter
the conflict to lead the military effort for the German
princes.
The roots of the conflict notwithstanding, each coun-
try that entered the war was interested in improving its
own political and territorial position, and few were as
successful as Sweden. By leading the allied cause on the
battlefield from 1630 to 1635 and continuing in the war
until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Sweden made
significant territorial gains on the southern Baltic coast
and acquired priceless works of art as gifts and war
booty. This prolonged conflict on the Continent not
only internationalized Sweden but also firmly estab-
lished the country as one of the preeminent powers in
Europe. M.C.

105
21
Two Pairs of Wheel-Lock Holster Pistols
late sixteenth century
German
etched, blued, and gilt steel, with gilt brass and wood
48.9 (19V4) long, 14.2 mm caliber; 49.9 (195/s) long, 14.2 mm
caliber; 50.9 (20) long, 15.5 mm caliber; 50.2 (193/4) long,
15.4 mm caliber
Royal Armory, LRK 7902-7903, 12722-12723

The duchy of Brunswick (Braunschweig) in Germany phus on 2 October 1621 from the armory of the dukes
was an important center for production of both military of Courland in Mitau (now Mitov or Jelgava in Lithu-
and deluxe arms in the sixteenth century. Matchlock ania). Of the three wars Gustavus Adolphus inherited
and wheel-lock guns and pistols from Brunswick with from his father, those with Denmark and Russia had by
decorated barrels and stocks made of chased and en- this time been concluded. The third war, with Poland,
graved brass are sometimes called Duke Julius guns was perhaps most dangerous for the king, since it was
after the duke of Brunswick (1528-1589), because also a war of succession, the Polish king being his uncle
some bear his initials, IH (lulius Herzog). The pistols in Sigismund. The duke of Courland was a vassal of the
this exhibition have no initials but belong to the same king of Poland, and Mitau was taken and lost by the
group. Swedish armies many times during the seventeenth cen-
The barrels of the pistols seen here have etched and tury until it was finally surrendered to Russia in 1709.
gilded decorations in the form of trophies, and imperial Of the two pairs of pistols in the exhibition, one was
German double eagles adorn the wheel covers. The sent in 1803 from the Royal Armory to the Cadet
wooden stocks are covered with pierced and gilded School of the Swedish army to be included in a historic
brass plates with foliage, fruits, masks, and human arms collection. After being transferred with this collec-
faces, while the butt of each pistol depicts a classical tion to the Artillery (later Army) Museum, it was re-
warrior on horseback. One pistol shows Pyramis and turned to the Royal Armory in 1907. N.D.
Thisbe in one scene and Eve in a landscape in another,
while another pistol shows Judith with the head of Hol-
ofernes in one scene and Adam in another. On a third BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cederstrôm and Malmborg 1930, no. 113f;
there is a representation of Justitia. Wolfgang Glage, Das Kunsthandwerk der Buchsenmacher im
These pistols were taken as booty by Gustavus Adol- Land Braunschweig (Brunswick, 1983).

106
22
Rapier c. 1550-1580
German
steel, with silver-gilt mounts
111.5 x 25.3 (437/s x 10); blade, 92.2 x 3.6 (36V 4 x P/8)
Royal Armory, LRK 10024

This rapier was taken, along with the pistols in cata- blood. The grip is wound with alternately twisted and
logue 21, as booty from the armory of the dukes of smooth silver wire. And the sleeve, of gilt silver, is dec-
Courland. It has a typical sixteenth-century thrusting orated with a bird looking backward against a back-
blade—long and comparatively narrow—and a hilt with ground of floral ornament. On the forte of the blade is a
a thumb-ring and a shell-guard on the inside to accom- punched wolf mark (Passau), while on the left side is a
modate a thrusting grip. The steel hilt is partly clad with punched orb. L.N.
gilded silverplate and decorated with engravings of fol-
iate patterns against a blackened ground. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cederstrôm and Malmborg 1930, no. 106a; Ru-
In front, a smaller side-ring with a shield is decorated dolf Cederstrôm, "Grève Gabriel Gabrielssons vàrja," Livrust-
kammaren 3 (1943-1945), 42; Seitz 1955, 76-79; Seitz 1965,
on the inside with flowers and the arms of the Courland
1:335-339.
house of von Kettler. On the outside, amid flowers, a
pelican picking at its breast feeds its young with its own
 23
Powderhorn Clock c. 1620-1630
German; clock possibly by Andreas Schelhorn, end of
sixteenth century
carved ivory, gilt brass, blued steel, and white enamel
20.2 (85/8) high
Royal Armory, LRK 8997

This powderhorn clock, left to the Royal Armory by

Charles XV of Sweden (1826-1872), may have origi-
nally been made for Duke Ulrich (1589-1622) or Duke
Bogislaw XIV (1580-1637) of Pomerania. The duchy of
Pomerania, on the Baltic shore, was important for the
Swedish campaigns in the Thirty Years War, both strate-
gically as a base in Germany and economically as it
controlled river trade on the Oder. On 10 July 1630 an
eternal union was proclaimed between Sweden and
Pomerania, with the duchy becoming in fact a Swedish
province. When Bogislaw XIV died without issue in
1637, the succession should have gone to Brandenburg,
but it was not until 1814 that Pomerania finally re-
turned to German control.
The powderhorn is made of two halves of carved
ivory, with the front carved in the form of two wild
men with crested helmets, supporting an oval escutch-
eon crowned with its own crested helmet. The escutch-
eon also serves as the clock cover. It is of gilt brass,
slightly arched and hinged at the lower end, with the
lock at the upper end in the form of a catch. The cover
is pierced with the coat of arms of the duchy of Pomer-
ania. The back of the powderhorn shows several natur-
alistic scenes, including two hunters, one on horseback,
with a deer captured by the rider.
An astronomical clock in the Gruñes Gewôlbe Collec-
tion in Dresden is signed "Andreas Schelhorn/1571 z
Schnebergk in Meisen"; and the clock incorporated in
the powderhorn, marked AS with a cross, may be the
work of the same clockmaker, even though the powder-
horn itself is datable some fifty years later. A similar
powderhorn is in the Historisches Museum, Dresden
(HM x 1255). N.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hans Bethe, "Neue Funde zur Kunst am Hofe

der Pommerschen Herzôge," Greifswald Stralsund Jahrbuch
(Schwerin, 1961), 167, pi. 11; Jean Louis Sponsel, Das Gruñe
Gewolbe II (Leipzig, 1928), 44, 190, pi. 20 (astronomical
clock); G. H. Baillie, Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World
(London, 1929), 320; Johann Siebmacher, "Wappen der
Deutsehen Souveraine und Lande," Grosses und allgemeines
Wappenbuch I:i (Nuremberg, 1909), 57-78, pi. 79.

108
24
Silver Goblets of Gustavus Adolphus 1632
Christoph Jamnitzer, d. 1618; with Jeremias Ritter, d. 1646;
engraved by Johan Hauer
silver, partly gilt
58.2 x 23 x 23; (227/8 x 9 x 9); 57.8 x 23 x 23 (223/4 x 9 x 9)
Royal Collections, ss 11, ss 10

Nuremberg was one of the most important cities in Ger- teen years after Jamnitzer's death, that the work was
many during the Thirty Years War. Already in 1219 the completed and the goblets sold to the city. The vendor,
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II had issued a charter Jeremias Ritter, claims payment "for complete fabrica-
that made it a free, independent city with no political tion and perfection of the two Jamnitzer globes.
connection to any of the numerous states of Germany. It is not clear exactly how much of the work was Rit-
Then in 1525 the Lutheran Reformation was introduced ter's, however. Perhaps he executed designs by Jam-
into the city. Thus when Nuremberg placed itself under nitzer. One of Jamnitzer's sketches for the Hercules gob-
the protection of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden during let is known, and we know that the goldsmith derived
the Thirty Years War, it became a powerful ally in the inspiration from designs by the Italian sculptor Andrea
contest against the Catholic princes of Germany. On Sansovino. The 1632 account also tells us that the gob-
31 March 1632 Gustavus Adolphus entered the city of lets were gilded at the time of their completion, just be-
Nuremberg at the head of the Swedish army. He was fore 31 January 1632. Jeremias Ritter was elected a city
accorded every conceivable honor and presented with councillor that same year.
marvelous gifts, among them these two silver goblets. The goblets had reached Stockholm by July 1632.
Nuremberg in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries They were not regarded as the king's personal property
was also a prominent center of the European silver- at that time but were added to the inventory of the
smith's art, and the Jamnitzer family was perhaps the Chamber of Receipts as part of the national regalia. Pre-
most renowned of all the dynasties of silversmiths at the sumably they were used as table decorations at impor-
time, producing seven notable masters between 1520 tant royal banquets, for they were taken out of the
and 1620. The most eminent was Wenzel Jamnitzer Chamber of Receipts for the coronation of Gustav III in
(1508-1585), and his artistic mantle was taken up by 1772. The globes were originally enclosed in cases, one
his grandson Christoph (d. 1618). Christoph Jamnitzer, of which, still extant, was made in Nuremberg in 1632
the creator of the two goblets given to Gustavus Adol- by Lorentz Kellner.
phus, was an artist with a superb command of elegant, One of the many inscriptions on the terrestrial globe
original compositions rooted in the sculptural tradition reads: AMERICA SEPTENTRIONALES AN D 1492 A CHRISTO-
of the Italian Renaissance. Among his most famous pa- PHORO COLOMBO NOMINE REGIS CASTELLE PRIMUM AB
trons was Emperor Rudolph II. AMERIGO VESPUCCIO NOMEN ORITA ANNO DOM 1499. It
One of the goblets in this exhibition depicts Atlas has not been possible to identify the prototype of the
standing on an elaborately ornamented base and sup- maps on the goblets, but they are obviously modeled on
porting a celestial globe with a small figure of Minerva older terrestrial and celestial globes with similar maps.
on top. The other shows Hercules on a similarly elabo- G.A.
rated base supporting a terrestrial globe surmounted by
Fama, the goddess of fame. The top of each globe can BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Steingràber 1969; Fo-
be raised to reveal a cup for drinking. gelmarck 1982; Stockholm 1966; Carl Hernmarck, The Art of
the European Silversmith 1430-1830, vol. 1 (London, 1977);
The gift book of the city of Nuremberg for 1632 re-
Wentzel Jamnitzer unà aie Number'ger Goldschmiedekunst 1500-
cords that work on the goblets was begun by Christoph 1700 [exh. cat., Germanisches National Museum] (Nuremberg,
Jamnitzer and completed by Jeremias Ritter. Since Jam- 1985); Bearbeitet von Hermann Schadt and Ina Schneider,
nitzer died in 1618, work had to have begun by that Kaiserliches Gold und Silber (Berlin, 1986); Urn Glauben und
time. Johan Hauer, the engraver, signed his work in Reich: Kurfurst Maximilian I [exh. cat., Ausstellung in der Resi-
1620. Records indicate, however, that in 1625 the gob- denz in München] (Munich, 1980).
lets, still unfinished, were in the possession of Jam-
nitzer's widow. It was not until 31 January 1632, four-

110
25
Gustavus Adolph us 1632
Georg Petel, 1590-1633
gilt bronze
67 x 66 (263/s x 26) (without socle)
signed: GEORG PETEL: Ao:viv:scuLp:1632
CHRISTOF: NEIDHARDT IN AUGSBURG GOS:MICH: 1643
Nationalmuseum, SK 353

Like the fine art cabinet now in Uppsala (see Fogel- several bronze portrait busts, including one of Rubens,
marck fig. 4), this portrait bust was a tribute from the the sweeping baroque lines of which are very much in-
occupied city of Augsburg to Gustavus Adolphus. It was fluenced by the work of the great painter himself.
modeled from life between 27 May and 2 June 1632 This bust of Gustavus Adolphus, which is one of the
when the Swedish king was staying in that city. Many artist's late works, is more official in character. The king
people have been surprised to learn that the artist was is depicted full face, wearing armor and a mantle
from the Catholic camp. The only possible explanation loosely knotted over his right shoulder. The meticulous
is that artistic skill meant more in this case than political detailing of the lace collar is chased work. Three ver-
association, for Petel was the finest artist Augsburg sions of the bust exist today: the original cast at the
could offer. Royal Palace, the signed version in the Nationalmu-
Petel, who was of the same generation as Van Dyck, seum, and a replica in Dresden. The wax model origi-
Bernini, and Duquesnoy, was a leading exponent of ba- nally belonged to Otheinrich Fugger. Both the Swedish
roque sculpture in Germany. During his short life—he busts were originally royal property, but the National-
was only thirty-three when he died—he produced a museum version was transferred in 1865 from Droit -
great number of notable works. He first studied ivory ningholm Palace, where, according to an inventory of
carving in Munich. His style then developed during the 1744, it had stood in the upper gallery (see also Walton
years he spent studying in Flanders, France, and Italy. fig. 12). This bronze bust shows little trace of the origi-
In 1625 Petel settled in Augsburg, becoming a master nal gilding. The front of the socle carries the Swedish
there the same year. He had a large workshop with a national coat of arms. G.C.-B.
wide-ranging output of sculptures in various materials.
He produced large wooden sculpture for churches and BIBLIOGRAPHY: O. Granberg, Svenska Konstsamlingarnas historia
monasteries, but he kept up his ivory carving as well. Frán Gustav Vasas Tid till vâra dagar, vol. 1 (Stockholm, 1929),
53, 55, 183; Karl Feuchmayer, Alfred Schádler, Georg Petel
During a visit to Antwerp in 1628, he collaborated with
(Berlin 1973), 126, 127, 139, cat. 35; Alfred Schàdler, Georg
Rubens on the famous salt cellar of the Triumph of Petel Barockbildhauer zu Augsburg (Munich/Zurich, 1985),
Venus now at Stockholm's Royal Palace. He also made 82-83.

112
 Axel Oxenstierna 1583-1654
WHERE STATESMANSHIP and diplomacy were concerned,
seventeenth-century Sweden produced at least two non-
royal personalities who achieved international renown:
Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, famous for his elegance
and extravagant service to Christina, Charles X, and
Charles XI; and Axel Oxenstierna, known for his intelli-
gence in working with the dynamic Gustavus Adolphus
and young Queen Christina. Oxenstierna was from a
family of the high aristocracy. He received a thorough
education at foreign universities and caught the atten-
tion of the rulers of Sweden at an early age. One year
after the death of Charles IX, Gustavus Adolphus made
Oxenstierna, eleven years his senior, the chancellor of
Sweden. They made an extremely successful team, with
the king as the spontaneous, hot-tempered, driving
force, and Oxenstierna as the reflective, calculating, re-
straining element.
Oxenstierna became one of the five senior officials of
state, his foremost task being to take charge of the royal
chancery. He retained this appointment for forty-two
years, devoting a great deal of time to the governance of
the realm and to constitutional issues such as the status
Detail, cat. 26
of the monarchy, the powers of the royal advisory
council, and the procedures of the Riksdag. He was the
effective ruler of Sweden during the minority of Queen
Christina, when he headed a regency administration
with more than a touch of nepotism: three of its five

114
members were Oxenstiernas, two of them brothers and
the third a cousin. But Axel Oxenstierna's main
achievement was in the field of foreign policy. He con-
ducted most of the negotiations following battles waged
by Gustavus Adolphus and Sweden's generals; and with
his natural dignity and impressive demeanor, he was
able to squeeze the utmost advantage out of Sweden's
victories and minimize the concessions to be made in
defeat.
It was while Oxenstierna was president of the regency
council that Sweden acquired its first colony, New Swe-
den, on the Delaware River. When visiting Holland in
1635, Oxenstierna had broached and devised a scheme
for outfitting an expedition to establish a Swedish col-
ony in North America. He was spared knowing the un-
fortunate outcome of this enterprise, dying one year be-
fore the Swedes were forced to abandon New Sweden
in 1655.
Oxenstierna's last years were greatly saddened by the
caprice of the young Queen Christina; for a long time
she preferred the mercurial Magnus Gabriel De la Gar-
die to stern Oxenstierna. But when De la Gardie fell
from grace, Oxenstierna was restored to favor again.
Oxenstierna was carried to his last resting place not
long after Christina's departure from Sweden—the
faithful, dedicated servant of the last rulers of the Vasa
dynasty. U.G.J.

115
26
Pair of Snaphance Belt Pistols 1613
Scottish; attributed to John Alison (Alysoun), 1587-1613
gilt and engraved brass, with engraved steel
76 (297/8) long, 9.4 mm caliber; 76.2 (30) long, 9.4 mm
caliber
Royal Armory, LRK 4357-4358

Scottish mercenaries formed an important part of the Heer's new Stocke! edition mentions only one John
Swedish army in the sixteenth and seventeenth centu- Alison. According to Hoff and Whitelaw, there were
ries, and many officers of Scottish noble families—such two masters by that name working in Dundee, Scot-
as Forbes, Hamilton, MacDougall (Duwall in Sweden), land: one listed in 1587 among master craftsmen in the
and Montgomery—received land and titles in Sweden. minute book as a gunmaker, burgess, and guild brother;
These pistols, with brass stocks and lemon-shaped pom- and another mentioned in 1610, when his son Alex-
mels, were probably given by one of them to the Swed- ander was apprenticed. The second John Alison was ad-
ish chancellor of the realm, Count Axel Oxenstierna. mitted freeman in 1611 ; the master responsible for
They are engraved with an elegant pattern of Celtic foli- these pistols is probably the first. N.D.
age framed by strapwork, and the unusually long bar-
rels are also engraved with the Oxenstierna coat of arms BIBLIOGRAPHY: Arne Hoff, "Scottish Pistols in Scandinavian
and the count's initials, AOS. The locks are of an old Collections/' Journal of the Arms and Armour Society 1, no. 12
(London, 1953-1955), 199-214, pi. 32; Torsten Lenk, "Va-
Scottish type (with no half-cock), placed on the right
sarna och eldvapnen," Historiska bilder 1: 420 (plate); C. E.
side of one, and on the left of the other. Through the Whitelaw, Scottish Arms Makers (London, 1977), 48-49; Heer
centuries, Oxenstierna's Castle Tidô has been bought 1978, 12 (John Alison erwàhnt 1587-1600); David H. Cald-
and sold many times, but the armory—which included well, Scottish Weapons and Fortifications 1100-1800 (Edinburg,
these pistols—was kept mostly intact, and in 1859 it 1981), 334 (on Alison).
was given to the Royal Armory.

116
27
Rapier 1610-1620
French
steel
98.5 x 20.3 (383/4 x 8); blade, 96.3 x 2.9 (377/s x l'/8)
Royal Armory, LRK 18860

This rapier, like the Scottish pistols in catalogue 26, be- the seventeenth century and made their way from Italy
longed to Axel Oxenstierna and was given to the Royal across France and Germany to Sweden. A rapier signed
Armory in 1859 with the armory from Castle Tidô. The by the Munich master Daniel Sadeler and another
hilt is of steel, chiseled in high relief, and the large signed by Frederico Piccinino, the latter presented by
pommel, long straight quillons, knuckle-bow, and loops Duke Carl Emanual of Savoy to the elector Christian II
of the guard are all decorated with scenes of cavalry of Saxony in 1605, are both now in the Historisches
fighting. On one side of the blade is an inscription that Museum, Dresden. Another rapier in the collections of
reads COMBATRE EN FOY. the Swedish Royal Armory is signed Heinrich Father,
During the Renaissance and baroque periods the ra- Solingen (inv. no. 5669). L.N.
pier hilt developed an elaborate system of guards to pro-
tect the fencer's hand. Sophisticated and elegant hilts of BIBLIOGRAPHY: Seitz 1968, 2:62-64, fig. 59, pi. 3; Nordstrom
this kind were widespread during the early decades of 1984, 48-49, no. 48.
 Christina 1626-1689
TOWARD THE END of her life, Queen Christina began
writing an autobiography that was never completed. In
it she had difficulty condemning Protestantism while
praising her father, Gustavus Adolphus, who had in his
day been the greatest opponent of Catholicism in Eu-
rope. She resolved the dilemma by arguing that in
this one respect her otherwise faultless father had been
misguided.
When Gustavus Adolphus died in battle against the
troops of the Catholic emperor in 1632, Christina, his
only child by Maria Eleonora, was not yet six years old.
About four months later, in February 1633, the Riksdag
paid her homage as queen of Sweden, and appointed a
regency administration for the duration of her child-
hood. Gradually it was realized that her upbringing
could not be entrusted to the inconsolable dowager
queen, so this duty was assumed by Christina's paternal
aunt, Katarina. As a result, Christina grew up with her
somewhat older cousin Charles Gustav, who eventually
succeeded her on the throne of Sweden.
Christina was an outstandingly gifted, intelligent, and
willful child, and these qualities became all the more
apparent after she had been declared of age at eighteen
and assumed the powers of government. Everyone ex-
pected her to marry her cousin Charles, and there was

118
great consternation when she declared that she intended On leaving Sweden, Christina made no secret about
never to marry at all. But there were more surprises in taking with her great numbers of books and works of
store. She took issue with the chancellor of the realm, art from the loot captured for Sweden by her generals in
the increasingly patriarchal Axel Oxenstierna, concern- the Thirty Years War, especially the fabulous treasures
ing the management of Sweden's affairs, and she began taken at the storming of Prague in 1648. This failure to
hinting more and more loudly that she was contemplat- distinguish between national and personal property was
ing abdication. All efforts of persuasion by her Council a habit she shared with other monarchs. Curiously
were in vain. In 1654 she abdicated the throne to her enough, despite her abdication, Christina continued to
cousin Charles Gustav, who had been made heir appar- regard herself as queen, and she maintained hopes of
ent four years earlier. Most people were aghast when staging a comeback in Sweden. Following the death of
she converted to Catholicism the following year, aban- Charles X, she traveled all the way to Sweden to attend
doning the faith of her father. his funeral, and thought of trying to turn the situation
Christina's actions were based on very clear convic- to her advantage by challenging the succession of the
tion, however. She was extremely well versed in con- young Charles XI. But the Swedes were upset when
temporary ideas concerning morals, religion, and phi- she had the Catholic Mass celebrated ostentatiously in
losophy. In fact, the greatest and most controversial her rooms at Stockholm's royal castle. Deputations of
thinker of the day, René Descartes, came to Stockholm high officials of state and clergy called on her to protest
in 1649 at her invitation. Unfortunately, the warmth of the enormity of sullying Sweden's Lutheran orthodoxy
her reception and the intensity of their talks did not with such heretical practices. Christina spent the last
prevent him from catching a chill in the poorly heated twenty years of her life in Rome and was buried in St.
palace apartments, and he died of pneumonia only a Peter's, where her resting place is marked by an epitaph
couple of months after arriving. A number of Jesuits bearing her portrait. U.G.J.
also visited Christina secretly at her invitation, to teach
her to be a true follower of Christ.

119
28
Christina after 1653
Pierre Signac, 1623-1684
enamel; contemporary frame of gold, enamel, and brilliant
diamonds
5.7x4.5 (2V4x PA)
Nationalmuseum, NMB 2316

Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, ambassador to

Paris in 1646, was responsible for bringing a number of
French artists to the Swedish court, among them the
enamelist and miniaturist Pierre Signac. During his em-
bassy to Paris, the count had been greatly impressed by
the fashions prevailing at the French court. His interest
was also captured by minor details of courtly culture,
such as personal jewelry. When he noticed that people states that he had produced thirty-four enamel portraits
were wearing small enameled watches and portrait me- of the queen, comprising twenty-five of ordinary size
dallions, he recruited Signac as a court painter with the and nine larger ones. Many portraits were painted from
express purpose of establishing this practice in Sweden. life, while others revert to portrait types of David Beck
Little is known about Signac's previous activities in and Sebastien Bourdon. The large enamel portrait re-
France. He was presumably a pupil of the famous enam- cently acquired by Nationalmuseum is most immedi-
elist Jean Toutin, whose workshop was the first to com- ately related to Bourdon's waist-length painting of
bine enameling with an established tradition of gold- Christina in the Prado.
smithing and watchmaking. Signac's masterpiece is the Signac's portraits of the queen were often set in costly
enameled watch De la Gardie ordered in Paris as a New portrait medallions and many of them were presented to
Year's present for Queen Christina in 1646 (cat. 33). foreign envoys and other guests at court. This portrait,
Signac, who used both gouache and enamel, pro- acquired through the British art trade, may have been a
duced quite a number of portraits of Christina in the gift to some high-ranking English guest. G.C.-B.
seven years during which he served as her court minia-
turist. Most of our knowledge of these portraits is de- BIBLIOGRAPHY: Swedish Portrait Archive, Index 3 (Stockholm,
rived from the memorandum of unpaid work he sub- 1943), 245; Cavalli-Bjôrkman 1972, 88, cat. 5; Cavalli-
mitted to the Chamber of Receipts in 1660. There he Bjôrkman 1982, 33.

120
29 Mantua died in 1628 without heir, and one pretender
Garniture of Wheel-Lock Carbine and with Franco-Venetian backing was Prince Charles of
Pair of Wheel-Lock Holster Pistols 1638 Nevers-Gonzaga. When Charles died in 1637, he left his
son Charles under the protection of France and Venice.
Italian; barrels signed Lazarino Cominazzo, probably Angelo But in July 1638 the French ambassador suddenly left
Lazarino Cominazzo, 1563—1646; locks by Giovanni Antonio Mantua, and the Venetian ambassador in Paris was in-
Gavacciolo, c. 1635-c. 1650; pierced steel inlays on carbine by structed to discuss the matter with the French king. In a
Giacinto Secardo; steel chiseling and steel inlays on pistols by letter dated 31 August 1638, he told the Venetian sen-
Antonio and Carlo Francesco Gosi ate about the audience and reported that the king—
chiseled and engraved steel, with walnut nicknamed "Louis l'Arquebusier" for his love of fire-
carbine, 112.1 (44Vs) long, 15.9 mm caliber; pistols, 56.5 arms—had mentioned a new type of wheel-lock in
(22'A) long, 15.2 mm caliber; 56.6 (22'A) long, 15.2 mm which the spring was tightened without a key.
caliber The senate ordered two guns and a pair of pistols in
Royal Armory LRK 4243-4245 Brescia to be made with all possible speed, but not until
thirteen months after the French king had expressed his
wish was the garniture of arms solemnly presented to
This garniture of firearms was ordered by the senate of him. The weapons were much admired, and the king is
Venice on 30 September 1638 and sent from Brescia on reported to have said "all my guns together are not
27 April 1639 as a gift to King Louis XIII of France. It worth one of these/'
exemplifies the highest aesthetic ideals of seventeenth- These guns are cock-spanned, that is, they have an
century Italian gunmaking, using only primary materials inside mechanism connecting the cock with a pivoted
of steel and wood in their natural colors. quadrant and gear-rack running along the wheel axis
The provenance of the gift reflects the turmoil in made as a four-toothed cog-wheel. The gear-rack is
northern Italy in the 1630s. Duke Vicenzo Gonzaga of linked to the mainspring, which is compressed by pull-

121
ing the cock upward and forward. The barrels of these the Holy Roman Emperor in the Thirty Years War, and
guns are thin smoothbore with chambers of eight facets, this was perhaps the reason for the gift. We do not
the forward part spirally turned. The stocks are made of know if the gift sent to Sweden included both of the
walnut root, with finely chiseled mounts and pierced carbines, but at least one was probably sent, for this one
steel inlays called "iron lace." The wheel-locks have may be presumed to have remained in Sweden and
lockplates with engraved borders and chiseled cocks and come back to the Royal Armory in 1859 from the col-
wheelcovers. The ornament includes the crown of Louis lection of Baron Ernst Magnus von Willebrand (1812-
XIII, his personal monogram L and crowned shields 1859). N.D.
with the French three lilies and the chain of Navarre,
surrounded by the chain of the Order of St. Michael.
The chiseling on the butt plate of the carbine is of BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hoff 1969, 68, pi. 130; Hayward 1962, 29, pi.
36c; Torsten Lenk, "Ett internationellt hjullâskriterium," Liv-
poorer quality than that on the pommels of the pistols
rustkammaren 4 (1946), 3-13, pi. 1; Agostino Gaibi, Le armi da
and is possibly a later replacement. fuoco portatili italiane (Milan, 1962), pi. 36b; Agostino Gaibi,
This garniture of firearms was probably given to "Recherches biographiques sur les Cominazzi," Vâbenhistoriske
Queen Christina of Sweden after the death of Louis XIII Arboger l i a (Copenhagen, 1962), 18-23; Marco Morin, "And
in 1643 by the dowager queen, Anne of Austria, or by the King said—All my guns together are not worth one of
Cardinal Mazarin. France was anxious to prevent the these," in Held 1979, 1:252-277; Heer 1978, 233-236 (Com-
Swedish queen from negotiating a separate peace with inazzo), 424, mark no. 427 (Gavacciolo).

30
Ivory Tankard 1625-1650
German; silver mount by PHD (unidentified)
ivory and partly gilt silver
34 (133/8) high
Royal Collections, s s 145

Ivory tankards carved in high, often dramatic relief were Inventories from the reign of Queen Christina men-
fashionable royal status symbols in Europe at this time. tion her ivory collection and the tankards she gave
In fact, ivory objects of all kinds were a substantial part Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie. Unfortunately,
of any royal collection in the seventeenth century. these descriptions are so abbreviated that they do not
About a fifth of the works in the Swedish Treasury col- allow the identification of pieces now in the Royal Col-
lection today are of ivory, which conveys an idea of its lections. Christina also purchased parts of the ivory col-
importance. lection of Peter Paul Rubens, but only a well-known salt
Ivory as a material was exclusive in itself, and so cellar (Royal Collections, ss 143) has been identified.
highly valued that it was frequently used as a manifesta- It is not known for sure where the ivory was carved
tion of political power or to mark an important event. for the tankard in this exhibition, but the silver mounts
The throne of the kings of Denmark at Rosenborg Castle were made and stamped in Augsburg. The tankard's re-
in Copenhagen is made of ivory, as is the speaker's lief depicts Apollo playing the cithara in the company of
chair in the House of Nobles (Riddarhuset) in Stock- an "orchestra" of muses. The lid is surmounted by a
holm. Apparently the connection between material and group of putti as musicians. G.A.
power also applied to smaller objects. Ivory goblets dec-
orated with relief carvings of the martial exploits of BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Steingràber 1969; Fo-
kings and princes were not uncommon, and in the sev- gelmarck 1982; Karl Feuchtmayr and Alfred Schàdler, Georg
Petel (Berlin, 1973).
enteenth century it was fashionable for royal personages
themselves to shape ivory objects at the lathe. There are
several such specimens in the Swedish collection.

122
 31
Ivory Tankard c. 1650
German; silver mount by Johannes I. Mayr
ivory and partly gilt silver
40.7 (16) high
inscribed: I.M. and stamped with the pine cone of Augsburg
Royal Collections, ss 146

This ivory tankard is taken to be an allegory of the

Peace of Westphalia of 1648, which concluded the
Thirty Years War. The figurai composition shows the
triumph of Mercury, god of commerce, over Mars, god
of war, with Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, on top of
the lid, conferring the laurel wreath of victory.
Though Gustavus Adolphus had been responsible for
bringing Sweden into this great European war, and his
able minister Axel Oxenstierna had guided Sweden
during its most important years, the end of the war
came during the reign of Christina. She is said to have
prolonged fighting in order to capture the treasures of
Prague. But she wished to be considered a queen of
peace and agreed to delay her coronation until after a
treaty was concluded. Thus the subject on the tankard
would have been highly appropriate for her collection
if it does represent the Peace of Westphalia. Minerva
on the cover could well be a reference to Christina,
whose intellectual interests were famous throughout
Europe. G.A.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Steingràber 1969;
Fogelmarck 1982.

124
 Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie 1622-1686
COUNT MAGNUS GABRIEL DE LA GARDIE was one of the
most remarkable figures in seventeenth-century Swe-
den. He fascinates us today not only by virtue of the
tremendous power he wielded during his lifetime but
also because of the more human aspects of his career—
dramatic reversals between fortune and misfortune,
great wealth and poverty—and the final collapse of a
carefully constructed way of life.
The education that De la Gardie acquired at foreign
universities and the manners that he learned from elite
circles in Paris dazzled his unschooled, less-traveled
compatriots in Sweden and, more important, secured
for this handsome, witty, and well-dressed young count
a grand career in the court of Queen Christina. For a
number of years he was her special favorite, and she
showered him with gifts of all kinds and with one mili-
tary and civilian appointment after another: colonel,
general, field marshal, privy councillor, constable of the
realm, lord high treasurer. De la Gardie in turn de-
lighted Christina with carefully chosen gifts—which she
made sure he was paid for—and by organizing magnifi-
cent festivities in her honor. Needless to say, De la Gar-
die acquired many rivals and detractors, and it was
court intrigue that ultimately felled him. A false accusa-

126
tion he thoughtlessly uttered prompted the queen to
swear never to let "that liar" into her sight again, and
she was as good as her word.
After Christina left Sweden following her abdication
in 1654, De la Gardie was restored to grace by King
Charles X, who was, for good measure, his brother-in-
law. And after the death of Charles X in 1660, during
the minority of Charles XI, De la Gardie became de
facto leader of the country, serving throughout the
1660s and 1670s as what we could call prime minister
and foreign minister combined. Upon Charles XI's com-
ing of age and assuming the powers of government, De
la Gardie's enemies made sure that his administration
was rigorously audited. He was found guilty of misman-
agement and deprived of all his important offices, and
most of his estates were resumed by the crown. He
spent his remaining years on the one estate left to him,
seeking comfort in religion and pondering the truth of
an exclamation from a spectator who had shouted, Cat. 33
when De la Gardie as a young man had taken the part
of Apollo in a ballet at the court of Christina: "Non
semper ridet Apollo!" (Apollo cannot always be joy-
ful). U.G.J.

127
32
Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie c. 1645
Alexander Cooper, 1605-1660?
miniature on parchment in gold locket
6 x 4 . 2 (2 3 / 8 x l5/8)
engraved: Effigies Magns Gab Delagardie Reg Cancell J. Sénat. Cu-
per pinxit
Nationalmuseum, NMB 2235

Portraits of Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie as a

young man are very rare. This one was probably
painted in Holland, where De la Gardie studied in the
early 1640s. He befriended many artists during his stay
there, among them Alexander Cooper. As a result of
their meeting, Cooper was summoned to the Swedish
court in 1647.
Little is known of Cooper's earlier activities. He was
born in London around 1605, four years earlier than his
brother Samuel, and both were brought up by their
uncle, John Hoskins, who probably taught them to
paint in miniature. The next reference to Alexander
identifies him as court painter to the Dutch royal family
in The Hague. His name can then be followed in the
Swedish court accounts from 1647 until 1657.
Alexander Cooper worked simultaneously in two dif-
ferent styles throughout his life. One is very refined and
precise, with minute brushwork. The other is broader,
as in the De la Gardie portrait exhibited here, where
light and shadow play an important part in molding the
face. Here the artist is noticeably influenced by his
brother Samuel. The two can be said to have introduced
Dutch realism into English miniature painting.
This portrait was probably a present from De la Gar-
die to Queen Christina, like the costly enamel watch by
Signac shown in catalogue 33. G.C.-B.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: K. Asplund, "Den svenska poitràttminiatyrens
historia," Konsthistoriska Sàllskapets publikation (Stockholm,
1916), 58; Cavalli-Bjôrkman 1972, 122, cat. 57; Cavalli-
Bjôrkman 1981, 20-22; Corel Cavalli-Bjôrkman, "Alexander
Cooper in the Nationalmuseum," Nationalmuseum Bulletin 1,
no. 3 (1977), 114-120.

128
33
Queen Christina's Watchcase 1646
attributed to Pierre Signac, 1623-1684
gold, enamel, originally encrusted with 575 diamonds
8.4 (31A) diam.
Royal Collections, s s 244

In 1646, while he was Swedish ambassador to Paris,

Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie commissioned a
decorated watch as a present for Queen Christina. In a
letter of September 1646 to his fiancée Maria Eufrosyne,
a cousin of the queen's, the count wrote: 'The watch I
am having made for Her Majesty is more than rare, and
I trust it will be welcome." It was De la Gardie who
procured the services of the French enamelist and mini-
ature painter Pierre Signac for Sweden in 1646, and this
watch is attributed to Signac both for definite stylistic
reasons and on account of the relationship between
Signac and the count.
The watchcase is decorated with five enamel paint-
ings: two on the outside, two on the inside, and a fifth
on the dial. These five paintings form a political apoth-
eosis, a tribute to the reigning queen of a great power—
Sweden. Much of the pictorial language can be related
to the ballets of the court of Queen Christina, performed
so frequently that a special ballet room was eventually
furnished in the east wing of Stockholm's Three Crowns
Castle (see plan, Walton fig. 8). Danced by members of
the court, the ballets were created to an accompaniment
provided by Italian musicians. De la Gardie was one of
the courtiers who helped produce them.
The symbolic language of the court ballets was often
highly topical, alluding, for example, to Queen Chris-
tina's role as defender of the political and human values
guaranteed by the Protestant states. A number of libret-
tos for these ballets survive, but Signac's decorative
watch represents the first known use of such themes in
pictorial art. The "libretto" for the watchcase was prob-
ably composed by De la Gardie, as a court dignitary
with a firsthand knowledge of the court ballets and their
programs. The outside of the watchcase depicts the
triumphs of Queen Christina by land and sea, which
should be interpreted as Christina Victorious and Chris-
tina the Peacemaker.
On the front of the watchcase the queen holds the
orb and scepter—symbols of the realm—and is seated in
a triumphal carriage drawn by white horses. The na-
tion's enemies are crushed beneath the coach, and the
queen is surrounded by three of the cardinal virtues:
Fortitudo, Justitia, and Prudentia. In front of the car-
riage can be seen an embittered Individia, and in the

129
 background, Bellona in a triumphal procession. Above
the queen is Fama, the goddess of fame, holding a lau-
rel wreath. The scene is topped with the device MANET
DIGNISSIMA CÁELO: "the worthiest crown awaits in
heaven/'
On the back—the triumph at sea—the queen is again
borne in a coach, drawn this time by white seahorses.
Neptune surrounded by maritime deities presents the
queen with his trident, with the Swedish and Danish
fleets in the background. Fama, with a laurel wreath,
broadcasts Christina's reputation as a peacemaker
throughout the world, and the device of this motif reads
PELAGI DECUS ADDiDiT ARMis: "The god of the seas sur-
renders his weapons." The maritime triumph depicted
here alludes to the Battle of Femern in 1644, in which
the Danish navy was defeated by the combined naval
forces of Sweden and Holland. This battle was part of
the war waged by Sweden against Denmark in 1643.
The casus belli was a series of moves by King Christian
IV of Denmark to thwart Sweden's expansion around
the Baltic. Denmark was the last major obstacle to the
conversion of the Baltic into a Swedish lake.
Inside the lid Christina is depicted as Diana with a
spear and hounds. She is receiving the tribute of a
young huntsman and two ladies. The device reads VIR-
TUTIS ET VIRGINITATIS AMURE: "For love of virtue and
virginity." This scene is described in the 1655 inventory
of Maria Eufrosyne De le Gardie's jewelry: "Inside the
lid, a portrait of Queen Christina as Diana, with His Ex-
cellency Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, Her Royal High-
ness Maria Eufrosyne De la Gardie, and Her Royal
Highness's sister the Landgravin as shepherds." Inside
the watchcase on the other side, wild animals and birds
of prey are suspended from an oak tree in an autumn
landscape, with the device HAEC DE SPOIIS CHRISTINA
NOCENTUM: "These marauding beasts [trophies of vic-
tory] Christina took from the enemy." The watch dial

130
shows a pastoral landscape and a shepard, with the
sun shining in the sign of the zodiac between Leo and
Libra. The device reads DAT LEGES SEQUITURQUE SUAS:
"Make the laws and follow them yourself/'
The edge of the watchcase is set with six medallions
displaying the emblems: 1) TE SEQUAR, "I shall follow
TEMNO,
you/' or"Between these I have
"May I follow you";no2)fear
HASof the lightning";
INTER FULIMA
TEMENO, "Between these I have no fear of the lightning
3) POST TERRAS AEQUDRA LUSTRO, "After the lands will
take command of the seas"; 4) ET BELLUM ET FOEDERA
PRAEFERT, "It [the hand] proffers both war and peace";
5) NISU ET visu, "Striving upwards [toward the sun]
and in the sight [of the sun]"; and 6) TIBÍ SOLI, "To
Thee alone," or "To Thee the sun."
This watch shows that the court of Queen Christina
was determined to leave its mark as a leading center of
European politics and culture. It is remarkable in more
than just an artistic sense. There is a curious antithesis
between this tiny watch and the political apotheosis of
the paintings. The watch is a private, intimate article
and at the same time a grandiloquent vision of the po-
litical ambitions of kingdom and monarch. Evidently,
this exquisite gift to the queen from the powerful De la
Gardie was intended to bring to mind the aspirations of
Sweden, the parvenu great power, to dominate the
Continent of Europe in war and peace. It is a unique
icon of Sweden's imperial period.
After her abdication in 1654, while traveling to
Rome, the queen sent the watch to her cousin, Maria
Eufrosyne De la Gardie, as a memento. G.A.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Stockholm 1966; Mag-
nus von Platen, éd., Queen Christina of Sweden: Documents and
Studies (Stockholm, 1966); Steingràber 1969; Cavalli-Bjôrk-
man 1972; Fogelmarck 1982; Birgitta Sandstrôm, in Lindgren,
et al., ,4 History of Swedish Art (Stockholm, 1987), 124, 130 (fig.).
 The Coronation of Queen Christina 1650
CHRISTINA BEGAN HER majority rule in 1644, at the age
of eighteen, but her youth and the question of her mar-
riage caused a lengthy delay in the planning of her cor-
onation. When she was very young, it was presumed by
her ministers that her function as queen would be pri-
marily to assure the continuation of the Vasa dynasty.
She was the only legitimate offspring of Gustavus
Adolphus, and it was hoped that she would marry and
her husband would then rule. Christina chose not to
marry, however, and it was not until 1647 that the
royal council decided to proceed with planning the cor-
onation.
Two early commissions of art works indicate that the
aim of the planners was the enlargement and enrich-
ment of the coronation of the queen's father, to demon-
strate the new status of Sweden as an important Euro-
pean power following the long string of Swedish
military victories in Germany and around the Baltic.
The royal tapestry collection (which already contained
about 150 major hangings) was to be expanded to al-
low for the decoration of castle rooms, the interior of
the cathedral, and possibly the house facades along the
route of the coronation procession. Pieter Spiering, the
Swedish minister at The Hague, who was a member of
a family of famous tapestry weavers, received an order
for forty-six new works (Gustavus Adolphus had corn-
Detail, cat. 34

132
missioned tapestries from the same firm for his corona- had brought triumph and fame to her country. To this
tion). And the queen commissioned thirty-four paint- end, she was willing to delay the coronation ceremony
ings from Jacob Jordaens of Antwerp depicting the story until the treaties of Westphalia were signed. The politi-
of Cupid and Psyche. These were to decorate the ceiling cal message she intended to convey was expanded fur-
of the Throne Room of Uppsala Castle, the proposed site ther at the last minute, when in June 1650, after a long
of the coronation banquet. The pictures were eventually struggle, Christina succeeded in obtaining the nomina-
installed in the library of Stockholm's Three Crowns tion of her cousin Charles Gustav as hereditary heir to
Castle, where they burned in 1697. the Swedish throne. This allowed her to remain unmar-
Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, the husband since 1647 ried. Just seventeen days before the ceremonies the
of Princess Maria Eufrosyne, a cousin of the queen, was queen reminded her council that special attire was nec-
Christina's favorite at this time. He lavished great gifts essary for an heir apparent. Charles Gustav cut a mag-
and attentions on her, making her coronation the most nificent figure at the ceremonies, and a splendid livery,
extravagant Swedish royal ceremony of the century. including a caparison embroidered in gold, was used for
Among his presents was the spectacular silver throne his horse (cat. 35).
commissioned from Abraham Drentwett of Augsburg, The coronation party became so large and elaborate
made of repoussé silver over a wooden frame and sur- that the queen eventually decided to move it from
mounted by two silver female allegorical figures— Uppsala to the Storkyrkan in Stockholm. The principal
Justice with a sword and Prudence with a mirror events included a triumphal entry of the queen into
(Fogelmarck fig. 5 ). De la Gardie provided additional Augs- Stockholm and a procession from the castle to the Stor-
burg silver in the form of candlesticks and a crucifix for kyrkan, where Christina wore the crown her mother
the altar signed by Andreas Hamburger. He was also in- had worn in 1620 (cat. 1). A coronation banquet was
strumental in the negotiations with France for clothes held in the castle's state chamber, and many festivities
and a number of new coaches for the coronation for the court took place over several days. A stuffed,
procession. roasted ox filled with turkeys, geese, and chickens was
Christina wished to be thought of as the queen of offered to the people in the market square (Stortorget).
peace, responsible for the resolution of the conflicts that G.W.

133
34
the coach; harnesses, bridles, and reins of plaited gold,
Embroidered Textiles from Queen Christina's silver, and silken thread; as well as a postilion's saddle
Coronation Coach 1650 and stirrups. The chassis of the coach, made of carved
and gilded wood, was lost in the eighteenth century.
French; coach assembled in Stockholm by Royal Stables tailor For the coronation of Christina in 1650, which was
Hans Frisell and French coachmaker Simon Maveil one of the most notable and expensive coronations in
carmine velvet with embroidery in gold, silver, and colored Swedish history, two fully equipped coaches were
silk; fringe and tassels of gold and silver made. The more splendid of the two is represented in
84 x 120 (33 x 471/4); 84 x 121 (33 x 475/8) this exhibition and was given to the queen by Charles
Gustav, the heir apparent. Known as the Trophy Car-
Royal Armory, 751a,b riage after the patterning of its embroideries, this was
door panels shown in Washington, D.C.; reconstruction of the first in a succession of magnificent coaches ordered
coach shown in Minneapolis only from Paris by Swedish monarchs. It was also the last
coach of open form, with "aprons" to cover the door
Christina's coronation coach was one of the most re- openings (fig. 34a). Only two other coaches from the
markable objects of Swedish ceremonial history and can same period are now extant, one in the Kremlin and
justifiably be said to epitomize the baroque splendor of one in Lisbon, but they are plainer examples and were
the coronations that took place during the century in not intended for use in royal processions.
which Sweden rose to great power. The coach was ex- Christina made a state entry—entré solemne—into the
travagantly upholstered with an "imperial" (slightly capital three days before her coronation, riding from Ja-
arched roof cover), two door curtains, four side curtains, cobsdal in the Trophy Carriage. Everyone of rank and
a front and a rear curtain, and cushions for two vis-a- importance took part. We are told the procession was so
vis seats and the floor. All were made of rich carmine long that the vanguard had almost reached the palace
velvet or carmine ribbed silk and were decorated with 6 miles away before the end had left Jacobsdal. An ex-
ornate appliqué embroidery in gold and silver depicting otic touch was lent to the proceedings by the inclusion
trophy groups surrounded by laurel twigs and palm of mules and camels.
leaves. The importance of the textiles adorning Chris- On the day of the coronation, 20 October 1650, the
tina's coronation coach was heightened by their abun- weather was unusually fine as the queen traveled by
dance and by the lavishness of their decoration, which coach to the Storkyrkan. The coach was drawn by six
identified the coach as royal, even without the national white horses, driven by a coachman with a postilion on
coat of arms or the queen's monogram. the left lead horse. The equipage was surrounded by a
In addition to the extant textile fittings for the car- guard of sixty halberdiers. Behind the carriage came the
riage, there survive costly trappings for a team of six coronation canopy, followed by Magnus Gabriel De la
horses, including caparisons to match the upholstery of Gardie on horseback carrying the banner of the realm,

34a. Coronation procession of Queen Christina, engraved by J. Sass,

1650, courtesy Royal Library, Stockholm

134
and then by the queen's white coronation horse in its mory. The coach escaped destruction in the fire that
exquisite French coronation caparison, led by the reins swept through the Royal Stables in 1696; it was in
and wearing an empty sidesaddle. The hooves of this Uppsala at the time. It also survived the Uppsala fire of
horse were shod with silver. Charles Gustav, dressed in 1702, after which it was returned to Stockholm. It can
the garb of heir apparent, rode on a golden courser be traced in inventories until the second decade of the
given him by Christina (cat. 35). In the procession fol- eighteenth century, but after that its fate is unknown.
lowing the coronation ceremony, Christina—wearing The Royal Armory has reconstructed the coach chassis
her royal robes and carrying the regalia—took a seat in to display the entire ensemble of decorative textiles dur-
a silver triumphal carriage drawn by a quadriga of four ing the showing of this exhibition at the Minneapolis
white horses harnessed abreast. These horses too were Institute of Arts, and has outfitted models of a team of
shod with silver. six white horses as well. A.T.-J.
On her abdication in 1654, Christina returned the
coach to her cousin, now Charles X. But by the time of BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1966, no. 332; Tydén-Jordan 1984,
the coronation of Charles XI in 1675, it was considered 12; Tydén-Jordan 1985, 28ff, 171f; Historiska bilder, vol. 2; Jo-
hann Christian Liming, Theatrum ceremoniale histórico-politicum,
old-fashioned, and a new coach was ordered from
vols. 1-2 (Leipzig, 1719-1720); Elise Adelskôld, "Christina
France, with glazed windows and panel doors more in Regina," in Historiska bilder, 2:1 Iff; Gudrun Ekstrand, "Three
keeping with the climate of northern Europe. Christina's Coaches of the Christina Era/' Livrustkammaren 10 (1966), 11
coach and its accessories continued to be cared for, and (English summary); The Royal Armory, accounts and invento-
the costly textile fittings were stored in the Royal Ar- ries from 1655, 1671, 1683, 1696, 1821, 1855, 1867.

35
Heir Apparent^ Caparison and Saddle 1650
French
velvet; embroidery and fringe of gold and silver; pommel of
gilt bronze
caparison, 117 x 235 (46 x 92Vz); saddle and pistol holsters,
56 (22) long; pommel cover, 34 x 40 (133/s x 153/4)
Royal Armory, 3877, 9037, 9038-9039, 9040

At the coronation of Queen Christina in Stockholm on

20 October 1650, Charles Gustav, as heir apparent, was
assigned a prominent position in the coronation proces-
sion. He rode a "fine golden courser" given to him by
Christina a few days earlier, and he wore a purple cloak
embroidered with the golden flames of the Order of St.
Esprit. On his head was a broad-brimmed hat, similarly
decorated, and around that, the golden crown of the
heir apparent.
Two magnificent saddle garnitures were among the
large orders placed in Paris for Christina's coronation,
and they seem to have been commissioned from the
same Parisian workshop. They are identical in shape
and pattern, but the saddle and caparison for the
queen's coronation horse are more richly embroidered
and are encrusted with pearls. The other caparison, on
exhibition here, has a paler, incarnadine (flesh-colored)

136
velvet ground, and the gold and silver embroidery does This caparison is unusually large and would have
not include pearls. Inventories state that this caparison hung well down over the sides of the horse; in fact,
was used at the coronation in 1650, but they do not say early records call it a "horse house/' It was made for a
by whom. It is the only caparison having the design and sidesaddle but would have been paired with a man's
dignity appropriate to the heir apparent, however, and saddle for Charles Gustav. Because the saddle and ca-
was almost certainly used by him. parison shown here were not originally meant to be
 Charles X 1022-1660
used together, their decoration and materials differ. Tro- CHARLES x (Karl X Gustav) was carried to Sweden in
phies are embroidered on the saddle alone. In the 1655 the womb of his Protestant mother, who had to leave
inventory of the Royal Armory, the saddle is described Germany with her husband, Johan Kasimir, mainly be-
as "new" and "French/' but its French origin seems to cause of their creed. At the time Germany was torn by
have soon been forgotten, for it is designated "German" the religious dissensions of the Thirty Years War and as
from the 1671 inventory onward. yet still dominated by the imperial Catholic troops. His
The 1683 inventory of the Royal Armory describes mother, Katarina, was the daughter of Charles IX and
the items as follows: "The richly embroidered red blan- half-sister of Gusta vus Adolphus, which made it natural
ket made for a woman's saddle and used at the corona- for the king to give them sanctuary in Sweden.
tion of Her Majesty Queen Christina in 1650 has since Following the death of Gustavus Adolphus, the Swed-
been changed into a man's saddle and was used at His ish privy council appointed Johan Kasimir and Katarina
Majesty's coronation in Uppsala in 1675." to take charge of the young Christina. Thus Christina
The caparison and saddle are both of exquisite mid- and Charles Gustav grew up together. He was four years
seventeenth-century French workmanship. The capari- her senior, and it was assumed that they would marry
son was used again with a new saddle by Charles XI at when they were old enough. But although the two
his coronation in 1675. With the queen's coronation ca- were close, in the end Christina made it clear that she
parison, these two are among the finest saddle garni- did not intend to ever marry. She had Charles declared
tures of their kind in the collections of the Royal Ar- her heir, however, and on the day she abdicated the
mory and are unrivaled in any collection in the throne at Uppsala Castle, he was crowned in Uppsala
world. A.T.-J. Cathedral a few hours later. After two months, Charles
married an eighteen-year-old princess from Holstein-
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1966, no. 332; Tydén-Jordan 1984, Gottorp, Hedvig Eleonora, and the following year
12; Tydén-Jordan 1985, 28ff, 171f; Historiska bilder, vol. 2; Jo- Charles XI was born.
hann Christian Liming, Theatrum ceremoniale historico-politicum,
A combination of skill and dash earned Charles X
vols. 1-2 (Leipzig, 1719-1720); The Royal Armory, accounts
and inventories from 1655, 1671, 1683, 1696, 1821, 1855,
great military successes in Poland, but the real triumphs
1867. of his determination and daring were achieved against

138
Denmark. He boldly seized the chance offered him by a
cold winter of leading his army over the none too solid
ice of the Little and Great Belts—assumed by the Danes
to be natural defenses against attack. The Danish forces
were caught completely off their guard, and the result-
ant Treaty of Roskilde in 1658 marked a turning point
in Swedish history, giving Sweden its present-day fron-
tiers in the south.
After a time, Charles X felt that the Danes were de-
faulting on their treaty obligations, and he embarked on
a new war against them. The fortune of war now de-
serted him for the first time, however, and Denmark
prevailed. Shortly afterward, Charles X summoned the
Riksdag to approve funding for a war of revenge, but he
died suddenly before the members had gathered. He
was only thirty-seven years old, and he left behind a
twenty-three-year-old widow, a four-year-old-son, and
a war-weary kingdom. U.G.J.

Detail, cat. 37

139
 36
Charles X c. 1654
Pierre Signac, 1623-1684
enamel; case of turquoise blue enamel
7.5 x 6.3 (3 x2 1 / 2 )
Nationalmuseum, NMB 2173

Many of Christina's court painters, Pierre Signac among

them, entered the service of her successor, Charles X.
Signac painted a large number of portraits of the king,
both enamels and miniatures. The first of these was exe-
cuted in 1654 at the time of Charles' coronation. The
enamel exhibited here shows the king in his prime. His
face does not yet reveal the heavy, pouchy lines that
characterize later portraits, but his corpulence, so evi-
dent in the cut of his clothes (see cats. 41-42), is appar-
ent here as well. Another variant of this portrait is in
the Royal Collections. G.C.-B.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Swedish Portrait Archive, Index 3 (Stockholm,
1943), 266; E. Lemberger, Die Bildnisminiatur in Skandinavien
(Berlin, 1912); Cavalli-Bjorkman 1972, 99-100, cat. 29; Cav-
alli-Bjôrkman 1982, 35.

140
37
ding guests with simple gloves. Many glovers were also
Gloves of Charles X 1650s perfumers, creating leather that was pleasing in every
way. They worked in cooperation with embroiderers,
Dutch/English? who took their motifs from special pattern books.
pale white glacé goat skin, pink taffeta, gold lace, gold wire, The unlined gloves in this exhibition have long nar-
embroidery of colored silk row fingers, a distinct back seam, and embroidered, silk-
35 (133/4) long; gauntlet 9 (31/2) to 16 (61A) wide lined gauntlets trimmed with gold bobbin lace. Small
Royal Armory, 3389 incisions in the palms—for ventilation—form decorative
triangular patterns. The gauntlets are embroidered with
flowers in the upper part and birds within oval car-
Perfumed gloves were a luxury article in the seven- touches beneath. G.E.
teenth century, but they were not always intended to be
worn—as can be seen by the elongated fingers of the
gloves exhibited here. They were regarded as exclusive BIBLIOGRAPHY: Uppsala 1921, no. 274.2; Tre Karlar [exh. cat.,
presents, and they had a symbolic value as tokens of Royal Armory] (Stockholm, 1984), no. G.2.12; Ekstrand
loyalty and courtesy. Elizabeth I of England always re- 1956; V. Gumming, Gloves: The Costume Accessories Series (Lon-
ceived two or three pairs of gloves as a New Year's gift, don, 1982); Royal Archives, inventory of the royal wardrobe
and it was common practice in England to present wed- from 1661.
38
of formal dress. Even so, it was the basis of the standard
Rapier c. 1650-1655 model adopted for the French army and navy toward
the end of the seventeenth century.
German
The half-hilt appeared in its perfected form in Sweden
annealed steel around 1650, as confirmed by Carl Gustav Wrangèl's
102.3 x 10.8 (40'/4 x 4»/ 4 ); blade/86.1 x 2.4 (337/8 x 7/8) sword at Skokloster, shown in the great equestrian por-
Royal Armory, LRK 5025 trait by David Klôcker von Ehrenstrahl (1645). The lat-
est known example—Colonel Daniel de Besche's ra-
pier—comes from Valô Church in Uppland and is dated
This rapier has a straight, twb-edged blade with an illeg- 1681. Several swords can be dated between 1650 and
ible punched inscription and a blurred smith stamp. Its 1681, including a number in the Royal Armory (inv.
half-hilt is cast of dark annealed steel, covered with nos. 1861 and 3871).
chiseled reliefs against a gilt ground. It is typical of this The origins of this type may be Continental, though
type of hilt that the innefside has no guard at all, as if whether German or French it is hard to say. Wrangel's
the hilt had been halved and the inside peeled away. rapier was unquestionably bought in Germany during
This style was not uncommon at the time of Gustavus the final phase of the Thirty Years War. And we know
Adolphus, but it had not yet been refined (a thumb- from inventories that the rapiers in the Royal Armory
guard was still considered necessary). Evidently, the in- once belonged to Charles X, and are of French origin.
ner parts of the hilt were eliminated to prevent unnec- L.N.
essary wear on the costly jackets with which such ra-
piers were worn. Its slender proportions suggest that it BIBLIOGRAPHY: Seitz 1965-1968, 2:85, fig. 79; Seitz 1955,
was not regarded as a military weapon, but as an article 163-166; Nordstrom 1984, 58, 59 (plate), no. 87.

39
Partisans for Yeomen of the Guard 1654
Swedish; decorated by David Kohl, 1628-1685
etched and partly gilt steel, with pine
214 (841/4) long; blade, 56 (22) long
Royal Armory, LRK 5872, 5874, 5878, 24591, 24599

Three months after his coronation, on 24 October 1654,

Charles X married Princess Hedvig Eleonora of Holstein-
Gottorp. Sixty partisans were ordered for the wedding,
and of these, twenty-two remain in the Royal Armory.
They were decorated by the best etcher in Sweden at
the time, the royal armorer David Casparsson Kohl, and
the ornaments include the coat of arms of Sweden with
a Píate shield and the king's monogram, CGRS (the C
and G crowned with the same royal crown, R and S
with one each).
 40
Coats of Arms from the Funeral Procession
of Charles X 1660
These partisans, the last ones ordered for the royal Friedrich Feuerbrim
yeomen (see cat. 18), were used not only during the silk mounted on paper, embroidery (appliqué work) in gold
reign of Charles X but also in the following centuries, and silver with golden galoon
until yeomanry was dissolved in 1844. The partisans are 70 x 38.5 (271/2 x l5Vs); 56 x 38 (22 x 15)
equipped with a wool tassel, often replaced, usually in
the Swedish colors of blue and yellow. N.D. Royal Armory, 60/2a, 60/50b

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Heribert Seitz, Bardisanen som svensk drabant-och

befalsvapen (Stockholm, 1943), 83-93, pi. 42, 116 (English The most spectacular royal funeral procession in seven-
summary.) teenth-century Sweden was that for Charles X, which
took place on 4 November 1660, and almost all of the
arms from the banners and horse caparisons are pre-
served at the Royal Armory (see also cat. 20). The
procession is also well documented by a magnificent en-
graving by Jean Lepautre after a drawing by Erik Dahl-
berg, "De rebus a Carlo Gustavo gestis," published at
Pufendorfis, Nuremberg, in 1696.
Charles X, whose reign represents the period of great-
est expansion for the Swedish empire, was the son of a
Count Palatine of the house of Wittelsbach and a Swed-
ish princess, granddaughter of Gustav Vasa. His funeral
procession included heraldic banners and caparisons—
each banner followed by a caparisoned horse— that
represented the fifty-nine provinces of the kingdom of
Sweden and grand duchy of Finland, as well as posses-
sions across the Baltic and the king's hereditary duchies
in Germany. Every banner and caparison had a coat of
arms embroidered on both sides, which explains why
some of the designs were reversed (heraldically speak-
ing). The embroiderers' names are known, thanks to the
invoices preserved in the Archives of the Kingdom. Most
of the arms were executed by Friedrich Feuerbrun and
Nils Stare, the rest by Georg Ulrich and Jean Beranger.
The two shields exhibited here constitute a good ex-
ample of the remarkable emblems that played such an
important role in the seventeenth-century "pompe fu-
nèbre/' One represents the arms of Gotaland and corre-
sponds to one of the main titles of the monarch: "King
of Swedes, Goths, and Wends [Western Slavs]/' It is
blue with a gold lion "rampant" overlying three "bends
wavy sinister." The other features the arms of Charles X
as Count Palatine, with eleven "quarterings" altogether.
A.T.-J./A.H.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sigurd Wallin, "Carl X Gustafs Begravnings-

fanor," Livrustkammaren 8 (1960); 253-310.

144
 The Coronation of Charles X 1654
THE DRAMATIC high point of 6 June 1654, the day
Charles Gustav was crowned King Charles X, was not
the splendid investiture of the monarch with the Swed-
ish regalia, which took place in the afternoon, but the
events of the morning. Queen Christina had decided to
abdicate that day. The court rose early and came in gala
dress to the queen's chambers in Uppsala Castle—all ex-
cept Charles Gustav, the heir to the throne, who was
dressed discreetly in black. The queen appeared with the
coronation mantle draped over her shoulders. Axel Ox-
enstierna, now grown old, handed her the orb; the ad-
miral of the realm gave her the scepter; and Per Brahe,
an old friend of her father's, placed the crown on her
head (see cat. 1). The assemblage then moved on to the
Hall of State just after nine in the morning.
Christina's silver throne stood on a platform; and to
Detail, cat. 41 the right below the throne was a chair for Charles Gus-
tav and a table with cushions for the regalia. The lower
part of the hall was reserved for the four estates of the
Riksdag. A proclamation was read releasing the queen's
subjects from their oath of allegiance to her; and with
certain conditions duly enumerated, the power to rule
was transferred to Charles Gustav. At a sign from the
queen, the highest officers of the realm advanced to re-

146
receive the orb and scepter, which were placed on the fittings were used in the processions. The altar silver
table with the sword and key of state. Then the queen's given by De la Gardie was brought from the Storkyrkan
mantle was taken. She lifted the crown from her head in Stockholm, and the Dutch tapestries were hung.
with her own hands, and it was placed with the other When Charles arrived at the cathedral, he no longer
regalia. At this point Christina stood in a white dress wore black, but a suit of white satin, as demanded by
with only a fan in her hand and gave an account of her Swedish tradition, decorated with glittering silver lace
reign, recalling the great merits of her father, Gustavus (this costume is still in the Royal Armory, but without
Adolphus. She then proclaimed, "In the prince [Charles lace); the archbishop then placed the royal mantle over
Gustav], I give you a king who possesses such great his shoulders. The service itself, at which Charles was
qualities that he will diligently follow in the footsteps of anointed king of the Swedes, Goths, and Vends, fol-
my father and bring you prosperity. . . ." Christina led lowed the traditions of Erik XIV and Charles IX (see
Charles to the regalia and begged him to assume them. cat. 3) and was followed by a coronation banquet at the
He entreated her to take up her throne again, which she castle for which the king wore the splendid, embroi-
refused. Finally, Charles gave thanks and vowed to rule dered gold costume on view in this exhibition (cat. 41).
according to the word of God and the laws of Sweden. There was nothing unusual about several changes of
Although the preparations for the coronation of clothing in the course of such a day, and the strikingly
Charles X had to be made on very short notice, since beautiful red and silver French costume also exhibited
Christina had informed her council of her irrevocable here (cat. 42) may well have been worn at some point
decision to abdicate only four months before, it was that day. On 24 October of the same year, King Charles
nonetheless a sumptuous affair. The magnificent works was again wearing a white suit when he married Hed-
made for Christina's coronation four years earlier were vig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp. Two days later she
much in evidence: the silver throne was quickly moved was crowned queen at the Storkyrkan, with suitable fes-
from Uppsala Castle to the cathedral, where the corona- tivities. G.W. and G.E.
tion ceremony took place. Christina's coaches and horse

147
41
Gold Coronation Costume of Charles X
c. 1654
French embroidery; assembled in Stockholm
doublet of gold lamé, gold brocade, yellow moiré; breeches of
uncut golden brown velvet, lining of white linen tabby; em-
roidery overall of gold with cannetille and lamellas
doublet, 40 x 52 (153/4 x 20l/2), with sleeves 57 (22'/ 2 ) long;
breeches, 61 x 64 (24 x 251/4)
Royal Armory, 3408, 3409

The suits of Charles X in the Royal Armory constitute a and gloves with matching gold embroidery, pink taffeta
unique collection, not only by virtue of their quantity— draws and silk stockings, a wide, gold-embroidered
there are more than thirty ensembles—but also because baldric for the sword (the hilt of which was gilded), a
they give such a many-sided picture of European men's gold hatband and a plume of red, gold, and reddish yel-
fashion in the 1650s. Only Rosenborg Castle in Copen- low feathers, and finally, gilt spurs. Today only the
hagen has a nearly comparable collection of royal cloth- doublet and breeches survive.
ing. The reason Charles X's costumes have survived in The short loose-fitting doublet is believed to reflect
such numbers may be that he spent so little time in French fashion from the time of Louis XIV's child-
Stockholm, being often away on campaign. The suits hood. The breeches show traces of original ribbon
were stored in the Royal Wardrobe from 1654 until decoration—bows or "favors"—in two rows over the
1697, when they were rescued from the palace fire. belly and were probably decorated in a similar fashion
Later they were deposited in the Royal Armory. at the knees. Both garments are embroidered in relief
The costumes can be divided into two groups: sump- with an all-over floral and foliate pattern in gold wire. It
tuous robes of essentially ceremonial character and anti- is a remarkably small repeated pattern for the time,
quated style (including those on exhibition here; see without any special royal emblems.
also cat. 42); and more up-to-date, comfortable, less ex- It is worth noting that Gustavus Adolphus' white cor-
pensive garments. The great majority of the king's suits onation robes, now in the Royal Armory, were embroi-
are black. Royal courts would go into mourning follow- dered with an emblematic crown. The only garment
ing the death of not only immediate relatives but also worn by Charles X that was embroidered with gold
remote kinsmen in other countries. One such costume crowns was the royal mantle passed on to him by
has wide petticoat breeches, an early example of a fash- Queen Christina.
ion popular in the 1660s. It is possible that the gold costume shown here was
Purchases of garments from France for "needs of His worn by Charles as heir apparent at the coronation of
Royal Highness/' the heir apparent Charles Gustav, are Christina and then made ready for his own coronation
recorded as early as 1647 and were probably arranged only four years later. Christina's abdication came so
through Sweden's ambassador to Paris at the time, suddenly that there would have been no time to order
Christina's favorite, Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie. A new robes such as these from Paris. Moreover, it would
Royal Wardrobe inventory of 1671 mentions "a cos- have been difficult to surpass the magnificence of the
tume made for the joyful coronation of His Majesty," embroidery, the shimmering gold brocade lining, gold
which refers to the gold-embroidered ensemble on ex- lace and ribbons, and diamond buttons. G.E.
hibition here.
Originally, this was the costliest of the king's cos- BIBLIOGRAPHY: Uppsala 1921, no. 1290; S. Flamand-Christen-
tumes and included no fewer than 140 diamond but- sen, Kongedragterne fra 17. og 18. aarhundrede, vols. 1-2 (Co-
penhagen, 1940); Ekstrand 1956; Ekstrand 1957; Gudrun Ek-
tons. It comprised a doublet, knee breeches, a circular
strand, "1600-talets vita krôningsdrakter," Livrustkammaren 8
cloak—a legacy from traditional Spanish costume, later (1960); Gudrun Ekstrand, "Maktens kladsprak," in Tydén-
made into a precious chasuble and antependium at the Jordan 1987; Royal Archives, inventory of the royal wardrobe
dowager queen's command—also garters, shoe ribbons, from 1661.

148
42
Scarlet and Silver Costume of Charles X
c. 1654
French embroidery; assembled in Stockholm
scarlet broadcloth, silver brocade, white linen tabby;
embroidery of silver wire, cannetille, lamellas, and spangles
cassock, 86 x 76 (337/s x 297/8), with sleeves 78 (303/4) long;
doublet, 39 (153/s) long, with sleeves 57 (223/s) long; breeches,
5 9 x 6 4 (23 1 /4x25 1 / 4 )
Royal Armory, 3386a-c

In 1654, the year of Charles X's coronation, the master

of the royal household signed for six princely costumes.
Among them was this red, sil ver-embroidered ensemble,
which included a loose-fitting cassock, knee breeches,
and a short doublet.
The cassock—suitable for riding—is lined with a sil-
ver brocade. It fastens completely down the center front
with buttons and loops; and the center back, outsleeve,
and side seams fasten the same way for approximately
half their length. The breeches are gathered at the top
into a straight waistband, and have wide straight legs
with pocket slits at the sides. They are decorated with
eighteen ribbon bows at the knees and twelve more in
two rows over the belly. The gloves and bows of the
shoes (ribbons serving as laces), now lost, were of the
same design. Busks stiffen the lower front pieces of the
doublet, which gives the garment a distinctive silhouette
and makes the shirt more readily visible.
The decoration of this costume does not include any
specifically royal emblem or motif, which makes it seem
likely that the ensemble formed part of an earlier com-
mission having no immediate connection with the
king's own coronation, but relating to his nomination
by Queen Christina as hereditary heir. At a later occa-
sion it was altered to fit the king's measurements. G.E.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Uppsala 1921, no. 427; Ekstrand 1956; Ek-

strand 1957; Astrid Tydén-Jordan, "Lyx och modecentra,
Paris-London-Wien," in Tydén-Jordan 1987; Royal Archives,
inventories of the royal wardrobe from 1661 and 1671.
43
Rapier 1640s
probably French
cast silver and steel
106.5 x 10.1 (4P/8 x 4); blade, 90 x 2.5 (353/8 x 1)
Royal Armory, LRK 10784

The hilt of this rapier, which has no knuckle-bow, is of coronation of Charles X. One rapier, with a bright silver
cast silver, with chiseled decoration. It is chased all over hilt, was intended to be used with the white costume
in high relief, with scenes of cavalry fighting. These fig- the king wore during the actual coronation ceremony;
ures are surrounded by auriculate ornamentation, partly while the other, with a gilded hilt, accompanied the
of open work on the shell-guard. gold-embroidered costume worn during the post-coro-
Two rapiers of the same pattern were ordered for the nation banquet (cat. 41). L.N.
44
Pair of Wheel-Lock Holster Pistols 1650
Dutch; mounts by Jiirgen Dargeman, 1646-1688
engraved steel, Jacaranda, gold, enamel, and diamonds
62.7 (245/8) long, 13.7 mm caliber; 62.6 (245/8) long, 14.0 mm
caliber
Royal Armory, 4722-4723

These pistols were given by Queen Christina to her the royal goldsmith, Jürgen Dargeman, thirty appear in
cousin and successor, Charles X, at his coronation on these fittings.
6 June 1654. They have round smoothbore barrels with A mark with the initials HC and a crowned head is
faceted breeches and Jacaranda stocks of French-Dutch known only from these pistols and a flintlock fowling
form. The locks have an inner wheel and rounded lock- piece that also belonged to Charles X (LRK 11683). The
plates of the Dutch type, while the wheel spindles are gun may be Dutch as well, but from about 1630-1640.
surrounded by blued plates, each with an engraved N.D.
rose.
The furniture is of steel and gold enameled in white BIBLIOGRAPHY: John F. Stockel, Haandskydevaabens bed0mmelse,
and light blue with details in black, red, and yellow. Of vol. 2 (Copenhagen, 1943), 673, mark no. 3383; Svenskt silver-
the seventy diamonds bought on 5 October 1650 from smide, vol. 1 (Stockholm, 1941), 240, pis. 516-518; Arne
the Stockholm jeweler Alexander Deboch and given to Hoff, Dutch Firearms (London, 1978), 43.

153
 Charles XI 1055-1097
CHARLES xi (KARL xi) was born in 1655, the only child
of Charles X and Hedvig Eleonora. He was only four
years old when his father died, and for the next twelve
years Sweden was governed by a regency administration
headed by Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie. Through De la
Gardie's leadership and example, the power and wealth
of the higher nobility greatly increased. Their special
privileges and Sweden's new position in Europe created
a society whose consumption of luxury goods rivaled
that of any other European country of the time—but at
the expense of the crown.
Although Hedvig Eleonora was given considerable
power in the regency government, she chose not to ex-
ercise it. As a result, Charles was also removed from the
political arena. Moreover, his academic education was
limited due to a learning disability. But he developed a
lifelong passion for riding, hunting, and military life.
After succeeding to the throne, Charles was talked
into asking for the hand of the Danish princess Ulrika
Eleonora as a means of improving relations with Den-
mark, and they were engaged by correspondence. But
Sweden had recently allied itself with Louis XIV, and
Denmark was one of France's enemies. The Danes, be-
lieving themselves to have the upper hand on account
of the Swedish king's youth and inexperience, declared

154
war on Sweden instead. Charles himself fought at the
Battle of Lund in 1676 when the Danish attack was re-
pulsed, though with tremendous loss of life on both
sides. This cleared the way for the projected wedding,
which took place in 1680. Ulrika Eleonora, who died in
1693 after a long illness, bore the king seven children,
three of whom attained adulthood; the eldest eventually
reigned as Charles XII.
Once the threat from abroad had been eliminated,
Charles XI addressed himself to problems at home. He
proclaimed a more autocratic government and was vig-
orously supported in this by the lower aristocracy and
the peasants. Charles was thus no longer bound to sub-
mit his decisions to either his council or the Riksdag.
The restoration of lands taken from the crown under
Christina and during his own regency was ruthlessly
implemented as well, to the lament of its victims
(among them De la Gardie), but to the benefit of the
national economy and the strength of its army and
navy. This stabilized the government and provided
money for the country to function as the Baltic power
that it had become. With this foundation, the artistic
ambition and military triumphs of the end of the
century and beginning of the next were made
possible. U.G.J., G.W., and M.C.

155
 45
Charles XI 1697
Eric Utterhielm, 1662-1717
enamel; frame of pressed, gilt copper
10 (4) high
Royal Collections, ss 255

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie summoned the French en-

amelist and miniaturist Pierre Signac to Sweden in 1646
(see cat. 33), and on arrival, the French master formed
a school and recruited young Swedish assistants. Eric
Utterhielm was one of his pupils. In this way, French
expertise was transplanted into Sweden, reinvigorating
Swedish art.
Utterhielm was a nobleman at the court of Dowager
Queen Hedvig Eleonora, and in addition to training un-
der Signac, he took lessons from David Klôcker von
Ehrenstrahl, the Swedish court painter. In 1700 and
1704 Hedvig Eleonora commissioned Utterhielm to
paint a series of gouache miniature portraits of her rela-
tives, which were then put together into pedigrees. The
queen's personal pedigree comprised sixty-three minia-
ture portraits. G.A.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Fogelmarck 1982.

156
46
Child's Frock of Charles XI c. 1660
French/Italian(?); assembled in Stockholm
purple and gold brocade; embroidery of silver and gold; lining
of russet taffeta
95 (373/8) long, with sleeve 18.5 (7VA) long
Royal Armory, 3450

Charles XI, child heir to the Swedish throne, probably

wore this purple brocaded frock, the color and material
of which indicate ceremonial use, at the opening of the
Riksdag in Gothenburg on 4 January 1660. He may
also have worn it when receiving tribute as king there
1 March following his father's sudden death on 13 Feb-
ruary. A portrait painted by the Dutch-Danish artist
Abraham Wuchters while serving at the Swedish court
in 1660-1661 shows the young prince wearing this very
costume.
This ceremonial costume of the young Charles XI is
an example of the kind of dress worn by children in this
period. By the age of four or five, they were dressed like
adults in fashionable clothing. The bodice of this frock,
stiffened with interlining and possibly whalebone, laces
up the center back. Its short sleeves have open front
seams, and false hanging sleeves are sewn along the
back of the armhole on each side. The five-gored skirt
has a center back opening and pockets in the side
seams. Ribbon bows form loops beneath the waist tabs
and at the hems of the false hanging sleeves. G.E.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Uppsala 1921, no. 662; Tre Karlar [exh. cat.,

Royal Armory] (Stockholm, 1984), no. H.3.5; I. Wintzell, Sa
varbarmn klàdda (Stockholm, 1972); B. Hammar, "Lindebarn,
koltbarn och miniatyrvuxna," in Tydén-Jordan 1987; Royal
Archives, inventory of the royal wardrobe from 1671.

157
47
Baldric for Child's Frock of Charles XI
c. 1660
Swedish/French?
white taffeta, red velvet, leather lining, with gold cannetille,
lamellas, and fringe
shoulder strap, 100 x 10.5 (393/8 x 41/8); sword sleeve,
27 x 10.5 (105/s x 41/8)
Royal Armory, 3459 (marked N 90)

A man of rank was not fully dressed without his sword,

carried in a baldric around the waist or over the shoul-
der. In Gustavus Adolphus' day baldrics were worn at
the waist, but Charles X left a unique collection of ex-
travagantly embroidered shoulder baldrics. These had
been supplied from France, where the embroiderers,
using needles, gold wire, and pearls, sculpted small
allegorical scenes. The open crowns incorporated in
the gold-embroidered foliage on the example shown
here make it clear that this baldric was intended for
Charles XI and no other. The embroidery is of the kind
usually associated with baldrics, with the patterns on
both pieces composed to meet at the shoulder so that
they are fully displayed whether viewed from the
front or behind. G.E.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ekstrand 1956; Royal Archives, inventory of

the royal wardrobe from 1671.

48
Child's Sword c. 1660
French or Italian
gold and enamel
46.6 x 5.7 (183/s x 21/4); blade, 36.9 x 1.0 (14»/2 x 3/8)
Royal Armory, LRK 5359

This is clearly the rapier presented by Queen Christina

to the four-year-old Charles XI when she visited Stock-
holm for the funeral of Charles X. Johan Ekeblad, in
service at the Swedish court, wrote a weekly account of
events in Stockholm for the benefit of his father, who
lived on the family estate at Stola Manor. On 3 October
1660 he mentioned Christina's return from Rome. And
when Christina left Stockholm on 27 December, Eke-
blad wrote that on Christmas Eve she had presented a
sword fitted with diamonds to the new monarch.

158
 In fact, there were no diamonds, although as a cour-
tier, Ekeblad presumably viewed the presentation from
a distance, and the sight of the bright gold of the new
hilt, shining with white, red, and black enamel, could
well have led him to believe that there were such
stones. The shell-guard of the sword features Charles'
monogram of opposing Cs, and the three-edged blade is
etched with gilt foliage. The grip is wound with gold
wire.
There is no mark or signature to indicate where or by
whom the sword was made, but a French origin seems
likely in view of the design of the hilt. It has exquisite
enamel work, a small shell-guard (somewhat asymmetri-
cal), and drop-shaped bulges on the middle of the
knuckle-guard. In addition, Christina journeyed from
Italy to Sweden via France, and was accordingly in a
position to commission a sword there.
The inventories at the Royal Armory say nothing
about the sword's origin. It is mentioned in a list from
Rosenborg Castle dated 1854 as having been used by
Charles XIII as a child. Prior to that it was no doubt
regarded as an heirloom by the royal families and used
by the princes during their childhood. L.N.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Johan Ekeblads brev. utg. av N Sjoberg, vol. 2

(Stockholm, 1915), 237; Lena Nordstrom, "Julgâva till en
gossekung," Livrustkammaren 8, nos. 11-12 (1960), 360.
49
Badge of the Royal Order of the Name Jesu
1655
Grégoire Chique (Gregorius Schick), 1651-1678
gold, enamel, and diamonds
7.2 (27/8) high
Royal Armory, LRK 5

The Order of the Name Jesu was conceived in 1656 by

Charles X, and it is the first Swedish order whose stat-
utes are preserved (though never signed). The order
was, according to its statutes, never to be dissolved by
future kings. Since Charles X went to war before the ac-
tual creation of the order, only the first badges, given to
members of the royal family, are known to have ex-
isted. The badge of the order was to be suspended on a
four-inch-wide white silk ribbon (symbolizing the purity
of Christ), and on festival days, on a chain. The statute
manuscript describes the badge of the order and notes
that "Grégoire Chique orfèvre a fait l'Ordre pour le Roij.
L'An 1655."
Chique belonged to a family of goldsmiths working in
Stockholm who were said to be from Cracow. But in
the letter of passage from Queen Christina dated 18 Au-
gust 1651, Chique is called a "French goldsmith/' He
was obviously very proud of the badge he created for

159
the king, for he once signed himself: "Orfeure qui a fait esty (the same) went to war [the Swedish-Danish war
Tordre pour sa Majesté Tan 1655." in 1675]." This text is substantiated by many portraits
Two badges are known to have existed. A more elab- of the young Charles XI. In one, painted by Abraham
orate one, corresponding to Chique's preserved bill of Wuchters (c. 1610-1683), the boy king is shown wear-
5 May 1655, was in the Radziwill Collections at Castle ing the badge on a short blue (not white) ribbon over
Nieswiez, Minsk (Russia), in 1913. The badge shown his right shoulder.
here does not tally at all with the description. It is, how- The badge is in the form of a cross made of four Vasa
ever, firmly linked to the order, since it was formerly sheafs of gold and yellow enamel with diamonds. The
kept in the Royal Treasury, left to it in 1743 by Queen garbs surround a ring of diamonds with the letters IHS
Ulrika Eleonora (1688-1741), youngest daughter of in the middle, also made of diamonds. Today thirteen
Charles XL In 1735 the badge was kept wrapped in a stones are missing, together with the cipher on the
paper with a handwritten inscription by Dowager back; according to a note they were already missing in
Queen Hedvig Eleonora (1636-1715), wife of Charles X the eighteenth century. N.D.
and mother of Charles XI: "This order with four sheafs
(Vasa) and the Name of Jesus was meant to be created BIBLIOGRAPHY: Rudolf Cederstrom, "Karl Gustav's Jesu Namns
as the right Order by the late King [Charles X] given by orden/' Livrustkammaren 1 (1937-1939), 2-6 (plate); Svenskt
silversmide 1520-1850, vol. 1 (Stockholm, 1941), 515 (plate);
His Majesty (the same) to his son [Charles XI] to wear,
Stockholm 1930-1931, no. 493.
which His Majesty (the same) always did until His Maj-

50
Toy Cannon and Soldier 1669(?) Today only the cannon and the colonel on horseback
remain from the original artillery set. The foot officers
Dutch/Swedish left the armory (together with the colonel on horseback)
blued and gilded steel, with brass, wood, and leather on 11 November 1749 for use in the royal nursery of
cannon, 51 x 162 x 56 (20*78 x 633/4 x 22), 34 mm caliber; Prince Gustav (1746-1792) (later Gustav III) and never
soldier, 125 x 100 x 43 (49^4 x 393/8 x 167/8) returned; all that remains is the blade of a partisan car-
Royal Armory, LRK 17537, 24640-24664 ried by one of them. The cannon were kept separately,
probably at the Royal Palace of Karlberg just outside
Stockholm. In the 1888 catalogue of the Artillery Mu-
In 1669 the fourteen-year-old Charles XI of Sweden re- seum (now Army Museum), they are described as "six-
ceived a magnificent toy artillery set as a gift from the pounders with carriages, given to the museum by the
two brothers Abraham (1623-1690) and Jacob Momma Army Cadet School at Karlberg and, according to leg-
(c. 1625-1678). The set included two cannon with their end, used by King Charles XII [sic] as toys." They were
equipment, a "colonel" on horseback, and two officers transferred from the Army Museum to the Royal Ar-
on foot, the soldiers as automatons with clockwork mory in 1907.
heads and arms. The colonel wears half-armor of blued steel with brass
The Momma brothers were of Dutch origin and mi- nails, and a helmet with a nasal and a plume. In the
grated to Sweden in 1644. They built up a vast com- breastplate there is a keyhole for winding the clock-
mercial and industrial empire comprising copperworks, work, but the toy was already out of order when it was
brassworks, tarworks, and a shipyard, as well as a fleet mentioned in the inventory in 1696. Now only the head
of merchant ships. In 1654 Abraham Momma made the is connected to the mechanism. The colonel wears a
first exploratory voyage up the River Torne (today the baldric over his shoulder, in which he originally wore a
frontier between Sweden and Finland) and over the sword with a steel hilt; the sword was stolen from the
mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, traveling in an ackja Nordic Museum in 1949.
drawn by a reindeer. In commemoration of this feat, the The horse is of painted wood and wears a saddle and
brothers took the name "Reenstierna"—that is, "head trappings of black leather and brass nails. The girth is
of a reindeer"—when ennobled in 1669. Abraham glued to the horse, but the other accessories are detach-
Momma was portrayed traveling in the ackja by Swe- able. The saddle is fitted with pistol holders of leather
den's most famous painter of the time, David Klôcker and blue velvet; the pistols were already missing in the
von Ehrenstrahl (1628-1698). inventory of 1803.

160
 Charles XI's Coining of Age
The cannon shown here is dated 1669 and bears the CHARLES xi WAS declared of age at the 1672 Riksdag,
crowned cipher C of the king, the oldest known version and his accession was marked by festivities in Stock-
of the famous Pfalz cipher, used on military equipment holm between 18 and 20 December. On this occasion
until the death of Charles XII in 1718. The carriage is of no expense was spared. The city was gloriously illumi-
painted wood, with black steel fittings. The partisan has nated, and a tournament in the grand style, emulating
a gilt steel blade, signed DK for David Kohl (see cat. 39). French examples, was staged in the tiltyard at Hôtorget.
The shaft is a copy. N.D. This kind of tournament, known as a carousel, was a
brilliant costume show. The leading men of the king-
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Heribert Seitz, "Det karolinska monogrammet/' dom took part, headed by the king himself, dressed as
Fataburen, Journal of Nordiska museet (Stockholm, 1937); A. "a knight of honor" in Roman armor. Some of the
Chapuis and E. Droz, Les automates (Neuchâtel, 1949); Torsten horsemen on this occasion used the elaborate caparisons
Lenk, "En storpolitisk gava/' Historiska bilder, vol. 2 (Stock-
made for Queen Christina's coronation horses in 1650
holm, 1949), 224; Fredrik Adolf Spak, Catalog of the Artillery
Museum (Stockholm, 1888).
(see cat. 34). The carousel was immortalized in a se-
quence of engravings after drawings by David Klôcker
von Ehrenstrahl, entitled "Certamen Equestre/'
The period of Charles XFs coming of age also saw
Sweden renewing its ties with France. In 1670 King

162
Louis XIV had succeeded in breaking the Triple Alliance
between England, Holland, and Sweden. Now through
an alliance with Sweden, he wanted to isolate the Ger-
man principalities expected to assist Holland when
France attacked that country. The French king sent his
best diplomats, Arnauld de Pomponne and Honoré de
Courtin, to Sweden for the negotiations, which resulted
in a treaty signed on 14 April 1672. To further cement
the alliance and secure the assistance of Swedish forces,
a new ambassador, Isaac Pas de Feuquières, arrived in
Sweden in 1673. That same year, as part of the diplo-
matic maneuverings, the ambassador presented the king
of Sweden with a spectacular gift from Louis XIV—
twelve expensively caparisoned horses. A.T.-J.

Detail, cat. 51
51
State Gift to Charles XI from Louis XIV of France:
Saddle, Harness, Caparisons, and Horse Blanket 1673
French
velvet, with embroidery of silver, gold, and colored silk; fringe The gift was presented during negotiations on the
and tassels of gold; harness of gold-embroidered red morocco subject of Swedish support for an attack Louis XIV was
leather, with stirrups, pommel, and buckles of gilt bronze; planning on Holland. Although the alliance between
reins of plaited gold and silk thread; saddle girth of silk Sweden and France was consolidated in a treaty signed
saddle, 50 x 50 x 60 (195/s x 195/8 x 235/s); caparisons: incar- in 1672, Louis XIV had not received any guarantee of
nadine, 133 x 63 (523/8 x 243/4); blue, 120 x 66 (471/4 x 26); Charles XI's support. The new French ambassador to
yellow, 117 x 62 (46 x 243/s); red, 120 x 63 (471/4 x 243/4); Sweden, Isaac Pas de Feuquières, arrived in Stockholm
gold, 113 x 59 (44>/2 x 231/4); horse blanket, 162.5 x 154 on New Year's day 1673 and soon afterward informed
(64 x 605/8) Louis XIV that riding and hunting were the Swedish
Royal Armory, 3881, 3881a, 599a, 600a, 601a, 3882a, 714 king's greatest pleasures. In April the French foreign
minister, Arnauld de Pomponne, replied that Louis XIV
had selected as a gift twelve of the most beautiful horses
The archives of the French ministry of foreign affairs in the royal stables, all fitted with saddles, caparisons,
contains a list of official gifts from the king of France to guns, and pistols of the finest craftsmanship, "worthy of
foreign monarchs and dignitaries dating from 1662 to both the King giving them and the King receiving/' One
1727. Because Sweden during this period was closely of Louis XIV's grooms was to deliver the exquisitely
associated with France, by treaty or otherwise, the list equipped horses.
includes many Swedish recipients. In 1665 Sweden's In July, with the French gift on its way, de Feu-
dowager queen, Hedvig Eleonora, was sent ribbons, per- quières reported that the king of Sweden proposed mak-
fumes, and other ustensils de Femme worth 17,012 livres. ing a return gift of copper roofing, and he extolled the
The next year the chancellor of the realm received two fine qualities of this material. Understandably, an offer
silver services, one of them gilt, worth 30,000 livres. The of this kind would be much appreciated at the French
list also records a gift in 1673 to young Charles XI so court, with large building projects like Versailles cur-
immensely rich that no value is given. rently in progress.
The ceremonial delivery of the caparisoned horses
took place on 12 December 1673 when Charles XI re-
turned to Stockholm. He was delighted with the gift,
Detail, cat. 51 and unexpectedly thanked the ambassador—without an
interpreter, it was particularly noted. Court connoisseurs
declared they had never seen anything to match the
beauty of these horses and their accoutrements. The
horses were des Chevaux d'Espagne ou barbes—Spanish or
Arabian—and became great favorites in the Royal
Stables. "Briljant," the gray ridden by Charles XI at the
Battle of Lund on 4 December 1676, was one of these.
The horses also made highly appreciated secondary gifts,
with or without their original saddles. The admiral of
the realm, Gustav Otto Stenbock, and Nils Bielke each
received one horse. Charles XI, a superb horseman, also
wanted pictures of his horses, so David Klôcker von Eh-
renstrahl, the court painter, produced more than twenty
full-scale equine portraits, including the favorite "Bril-
jant" and several others from the French gift.
All twelve horse blankets are still in the Royal Ar-
mory, along with seven of the saddles and eight of the
caparisons. Of the equipment shown here, the saddle,
incarnadine (flesh-colored) caparison, and harness be-
longed to the horse named "L'Assure" and were used
166
167
again at the coronation of Frederick I in Stockholm in posed in terms of color and form. Thickly embroidered
1720. The blue caparison was worn by the horse "La acanthus designs predominate as the basic pattern, en-
Plaie" and was used by Charles XI during the Scanian closing trophy groups, flowers, birds, fighting beasts,
War in 1676. (We also know that at least one of the and monograms. Sophisticated techniques have been
French saddles was used during the Scanian War.) The used: appliqué embroidery in high relief, with exquisite
yellow and flame-colored caparisons belonged to the shading and nuances achieved by means of colored
horses "Le Frontinaux" and "Le Grillan/' respectively. silks. This important political gift is a unique example of
We do not know to which horse the gold caparison be- the extraordinary level of mastery achieved by French
longed, for the saddle—carrying the name and number seventeenth-century embroiderers in creating intricate
of the horse—has not survived. The horse blanket was three-dimensional patterns. A.T.-J./N.D.
meant to be laid over the saddle and caparison when
leading the horse by the reins. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lenk 1949, 213ff; Astrid Tydén-Jordan, "Har-
The saddles, caparisons, and other accessories are lav- nachement français: Partie du présent politique de 1673, Ver-
sailles à Stockholm," Nationalmusei skriftserie 5 (1985), 239ff;
ishly decorated with gold and silver embroidery in the
Astrid Tydén-Jordan, "Sadelmundering ur franska gâvan 1673:
elaborate baroque style evolved at the Gobelins by Kung Sol i Sverige," Nationalmuseum catalogue 40 (Stockholm,
Charles Le Brun and known from the prints of Jean Le- 1986), 48; The Royal Armoury (Stockholm, 1978), 32f.
pautre. Each set of saddle equipment is specially com-

168
52
Pair of Flintlock Holster Pistols 1670
French; D. G. de Foullois the Younger, fl. c. 1670-1675 Castle Lowenburg, near Kassel, in Germany has another
engraved steel; inlayed and engraved silver; walnut ("Bois de gun—all given as secondary gifts by Charles XI to his
Grenoble") relatives.
51.4 (20V4) long, 12.9 mm caliber; 51.7 (203/s) long, 12.8 mm
De Foullois was among the foremost French gun-
caliber smiths of his day, and this pair of pistols—signed DE
FOULOIS LE IEUNE A PARIS, and FOULOIS LE IEUNE A
Royal Armory, LRK 3536-3537
PARIS, on the locks—are among the most beautiful of
the arms included in the French gift. Guns and pistols
These pistols were part of the diplomatic gift sent by by de Foullois are found in many collections of the
Louis XIV to Charles XI in 1673. They belonged to the world. The barrels of these pistols are round smooth-
eleventh saddle ensemble in the series, which was of bore, faceted and fluted on the breech and overlaid with
flame-colored velvet. This saddle is no longer in the engraved silver. The locks are silver with steel parts, and
Royal Armory collections, having been presented by the walnut stocks have engraved silver inlays.
Charles to Prince Frederick of Holstein (1671-1702), These pistols have immensely rich decorations, mostly
who in 1698 married Princess Hedvig Sofia (1681- on the triumph theme so popular at the end of the sev-
1708), the king's eldest child. enteenth century and appropriate for the victorious king
The guns and pistols in the French gift, unlike the of the powerful Swedish state. On the barrels are found
horse trappings, were not all of the latest fashion. Some the Swedish coat of arms, while on one lock Fama, the
were taken from the finest and most richly decorated goddess of fame, blows her horn, and on the other Mi-
weapons to be found in Louis XIV's collection. Four nerva, goddess of military art, sits among trophies. N.D.
pairs of pistols, together with two single pistols and five
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hoff 1969, 268 310, colorplate 6; Lenk 1939,
guns, are still in the Royal Armory. The Royal Armory
81, 87-88, pi. 72; Heer 1978, 387.
in Copenhagen also has a pair of pistols and a gun; and

169
53 monkeys with their backs toward each other, patting a
cat and a dog, a scene to be found on the butt of this
Double-Barreled Turn-Over Flintlock Gun gun. It was most unusual for a decorator to sign his
c. 1660 work in France at this time, as Berain has here—BERAIN
FECIT (fig. 53a)—on the stock inlays. No doubt Berain
French; Louis le Conte, c. 1650-c. 1700; decorated by engraved the decoration on many other fine French fire-
Jean Berain the Elder, 1637-1711 arms that remain unidentified.
blued and engraved steel; inlayed and engraved silver; gold The decoration of this gun glorifies Louis XIV, not
incrustations; walnut ("Bois de Grenoble") Charles XI. Mythological representations form the main
160 (63) long theme: on the barrels Minerva and Fama; on the stocks
Royal Armory, LRK 3538 Minerva, Fama, Mars, Amor, Venus, and Apollo; and
on the trigger guard, Minerva again. Berain's fondness
for the grotesque is shown on the cock, where an ara-
Louis le Conte was one of the leading gun masters in besque is developed into a man in a Phrygian cap, stab-
the employ of Louis XIV, but few of his works have sur- bing a snail with a dagger. On the back of the stock is
vived apart from this magnificent gun. Along with the the principal glorification of the king, Fama riding an
pistols in catalogue numbers 52 and 54, this gun was eagle with the ribbon of a medallion bearing the initials
part of the diplomatic gift from the French king to and title of the king, LDGR, in its beak.
Charles XI of Sweden in 1673. It is one of the most
beautiful guns included in the gift and was registered
first among the guns in the inventory.
The gun has two smoothbore revolving barrels of
blued steel overlaid with gold damascening. The release
for the barrel rotation is in the trigger guard. The lock
has an engraved flat plate and flat cock, with the gilt
head of the cock-screw in the form of a lion mask.
The butt of the gun is of the early French type, and the
walnut stock has richly engraved and chiseled furniture
of silver.
Jean Berain the Elder, one of the greatest French or-
namentalists and engravers of the seventeenth century,
had an uncle Claude working as a gunmaker in Paris.
In 1659, the twenty-two-year-old Jean published his
first gunmakers' pattern book, later producing two fur-
ther editions. One of Berain's favorite motifs is two 53a. Berain's signature

170
 Nearly thirty years after the gun was made, Berain Lenk, 1949, 213-235; Heer 1978, 83, 691; Hayward 1962, 1:
played a major role in the art of design in Sweden. pi. 53, 2: 36; Maurice Cottaz, L'arme à feu portative française
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger befriended the artist and (Paris, 1971), 48; J. P. Reverseau, Les armes et la vie (Paris,
collected many of his drawings (see cat. 65). Berain 1982), 109-110; Cari Hemmarck, "Daniel Cronstrôms gava
also designed the state coach of the Swedish kings till Karl XI," Livrustkammaren 1 (1957), 209; Jean Berain, Di-
verses pièces de Serruriers inuentées par Hughes Brisuille, Maître
(cat. 63). N.D.
Serrurier A Paris, Et grauez par Jean Berain . . . (see Lenk
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hoff, 1969, 264, fig. 200; Arne Hoff, "Sideblik 1939); Jérôme de la Gorce, Berain, Dessinateur du Roi Soleil
med antikke vogne," Vâbenhistoriske Arbôger 26 (Copenhagen, (Vicenza, 1986), 16, 29, 30 (plate).
1980), 59; Lenk 1939, 96-100, 141, 145, pis. 59-60, 117.1;

54 weapons included in the gift. The barrels of his pistols

are of blued steel, round with a faceted breech overlaid
Flintlock Holster Pistols 1670-1673 with gold. The locks are of rounded form, with en-
French, by "Champion" graved decoration, and the walnut stocks have profuse
engraved silver inlays.
blued, chiseled, and engraved steel, with gold incrustations;
walnut with engraved silver inlays The decoration is influenced by the pattern books of
Berain, Thuraine, and Le Holladois (see Lenk). It in-
34.6 (135/8) long, 13 mm caliber
cludes no mythological scenes, but the lockplates are
Royal Armory, LRK 3542-3543 engraved with human heads and nude female figures;
the thumb plates with the Swedish three crowns; and
the trigger guards with buzzards holding snakes in their
These pistols are signed CHAMPION on the barrel tangs
beaks. N.D.
and CHAMPION A PARIS on the locks. Among the Paris
gunmakers commissioned to work on Louis XIV's gift to BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hoff 1969, 31, fig. 235; Lenk 1939, 96, 100,
Charles XI, Champion is the least known master, but in 143, 144, pi. 73.3, 74.1-2; John F. Stockel, Haandskydevaabens
technical and artistic quality, his pistols rival the finest bed0mmelse (Copenhagen, 1943), 203.

171
 Hedvig Eleonora 1636-1715
HEDVIG ELEONORA WAS BORN in 1636 at Gottorp Castle
in the north German duchy of Holstein-Gottorp. Her
father, Duke Frederick III, was a sworn enemy of his
northern neighbor Denmark, so a marriage between the
German princess and the king of Sweden, one of Den-
mark's other historical enemies, seemed logical. Hedvig
Eleonora was therefore sent to Stockholm at the age of
seventeen, and on the day after her eighteenth birthday
she was married to Charles X. He was fourteen years
her senior and had been proclaimed king of Sweden
Detail, cat. 58 just a few months before.
One year later, in November 1655, Hedvig Eleonora
gave birth to their only child, the future Charles XI. But
after only five years of marriage, Charles X died sud-
denly of pneumonia, and Hedvig Eleonora found herself
chairman, with two votes, of the regency administration
appointed for the minority of her son. She soon tired of
the business of government, however, and the other
members of the regency carried on alone, needing only
her signature.
Hedvig Eleonora doted on her fatherless son, but the
rest of her time and money were devoted to the arts, es-
pecially building: she refurnished and enlarged Grips-
holm Castle, had new castles built at Strômsholm and

172
Drottningholm, and redecorated at Vadstena and Ulriks-
dal. The royal architects were Nicodemus Tessin, father
and son, and the new settings designed by them called
for sculptors, plasterers, painters, landscape gardeners,
craftsmen of all kinds. It was due to Hedvig Eleonora, in
fact, that Sweden was able to establish an artistic output
and tradition of its own during the second half of the
seventeenth century. In 1659 she had prevailed upon
her husband to make David Klôcker von Ehrenstrahl
the court painter. And during his long career in Swe-
den, Ehrenstrahl taught a number of Swedish and for-
eign painters in Stockholm and organized them into a
service for projects for the crown and nobility.
Hedvig Eleonora was also, after Christina, the most
important royal collector in early Swedish history. She
had a treasury at Ulriksdal that was filled with objects,
and the range of her taste may be surmised from an in-
ventory of her belongings at Drottningholm made in
1719: 350 pieces of oriental porcelain and Dutch fai-
ence, along with porcelain dolls, ivory boxes, and ves-
sels of rock crystal and marble mounted in gilt silver
and enamel. She even kept a crystal cutter, Christoffer
Elsterman, who engraved many pieces for her. U.G.J.

Detail, cat. 60
55
Miniature Monkey Playing the Violin
and Miniature Frog late seventeenth century
pearls, gold, and enamel
monkey, 2.2 (7/s) high; frog, 4.4 (1 3 A) high
Royal Collections, ss 4, ss 6

The collections of Queen Hedvig Eleonora included a

number of miniature objects of various characters and
materials. In 1685, for example, the queen purchased
about twenty-five miniatures from her Dutch art agent,
Carl Chr. Mandel. It was typical of the time that the bill
remained unsettled until 1689. Of the two miniature
animals shown here, only the frog was included in the
1685 consignment. The acquisition date of the monkey
is uncertain.
It was a supremely fashion-minded queen who incor-
porated these objects in her collection. During the sec-
ond half of the seventeenth century, miniatures like
these, very often composed around an irregular, or "ba-
roque/' pearl, came to be included in all notable royal
collections in Europe. G.A.
Enlarged
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Fogelmarck 1982.

Enlarged

174
 Enlarged Enlarged

56
Hedvig Eleonora's Pendants c. 1600
pearls, gold, enamel, and diamonds
siren, 4 x 2.7 ( l l / 2 x 1); triton, 4 x 3.5 (IV2 x !3/s)
Royal Collections, ss 223, ss 224

During the second half of the sixteenth century and the of pendants, some of which had belonged to the Swed-
early years of the seventeenth, a new kind of jewelry ish royal family before Hedvig Eleonora's time. Others
became fashionable in Europe. Skillful, imaginative were purchased by the queen herself. It is impossible
goldsmiths created pendants in the form of animal or now to say when the two jewels exhibited here were
human figures, with an irregular pearl for the bodies. It acquired, because they are not identifiably described in
was the curious shape of the pearl that suggested the fi- the inventories until after the queen's death in 1715.
nal form of the pendant. In the catalogue of the Wad- The triton pendant is also a secret cruet, with the fish-
desdon Bequest in the British Museum, Hugh Tait tail opening to reveal six compartments for different
writes as follows concerning these baroque pearls, as spices. G.A.
they were often called: "They were a novelty in Europe,
having been discovered in the waters of the New World BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm, 1930-1931; Steingràber 1969; Fo-
and no doubt were associated with tales of exploration, gelmarck 1982; Stockholm 1966; Princely Magnifidence: Court
of danger in uncharted seas/' Jewels of the Renaissance 1500-1630 [exh. cat., Debrett's Peerage
Limited, with Victoria and Albert Museum] (London, 1980).
The Royal Treasury collection includes a large number

175
 57
Mousetrap Pendant c. 1600
German?
gold, enamel, diamonds, rubies, and pearls
3.9 (l»/2) long
Royal Collections, ss 222

Known portraits of the ladies of the Swedish royal fam-

ily in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries
give a clear indication of the way accessories were worn
and which forms were in fashion. Pendants were very
popular, for instance. They could be attached to a suit-
able necklace or could in themselves constitute the prin-
cipal decoration, in which case they would simply be
suspended from a thin gold chain. Pendants could also
be worn as brooches, with large, richly adorned neck-
laces. Cameos or cut precious stones, surrounded by an
elaborately worked gold frame, were the most typical
kind of pendant. Less common were highly miniatur-
ized reproductions of everyday objects, such as the
mousetrap on exhibition here.
On 25 March 1630 the Chamber of Receipts drew up
an inventory of "His Majesty's possessions" that de-
scribes "a mousetrap encrusted with diamonds and ru-
bies and with -Z [abbreviation for T] suspended pearl
inside. Weight 141/4 kronor. Lining to be made for."
This description makes the mousetrap pendant the earli-
est item in the Royal Treasury collection identifiable
from an inventory. It can be traced through the docu-
ments of the Chamber of Receipts until 1828, when it
was transferred, with other heirlooms, to the institution
now called the Museum of National Antiquities. There it
was incorporated in the Royal Treasury collection com-
posed of items from various royal residences.
This mousetrap pendant is an exquisite example of
European goldsmithwork c. 1600. South Germany has
been suggested as a likely place of manufacture, but the
style is so general in character that the pendant could
have been made at any one of several leading Continen-
tal centers of the goldsmith's art. G.A.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Steingràber, 1969;

Erich Steingràber, Alter Schmuck: Die Kunst des europàischen
Schmuckes (Munich, 1956); Fogelmarck 1982; Stockholm
1966.

176
58
Agate Bowl early fifteenth century (?)
with late seventeenth-century mounts
Prague?
agate set with amethysts, gold, rubies, and enamel
21.5 (SV2) diam.
Royal Collections, ss 39

This bowl, turned from a single agate, is the oldest arti- be considered late Roman and dated c. 300 A.D. Efforts
fact in the Royal Treasury today. A similar agate bowl, must be made to investigate the evidence in support of
retaining its original gold setting and dated to the mid- this theory, but for the time being we prefer to retain
fourteenth century, is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the traditional date and attribution.
Vienna. That bowl is presumed to have been made in This bowl was brought up to date in the seventeenth
the court workshop of Emperor Charles IV in Prague. century with the substitution of new, fashionable
Comparison of the two pieces suggests that the Stock- mounts for the earlier setting. Perhaps larger mounts
holm bowl was very likely made in the early fifteenth were used to conceal the marks of the former setting.
century, probably also in Prague. This bowl once belonged to Queen Hedvig Eleonora and
During the work on this exhibition catalogue, one of formed part of her collection at Ulriksdal, where it was
the world's leading specialists in applied arts of this type one of the more valuable items. G.A.
has suggested that the Stockholm bowl might be more
than one thousand years older than we have proposed. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Fogelmarck 1982;
According to this new opinion, the agate bowl should Steingráber 1969.
59
Rock Crystal Tankard 1650-1675
German/B ohemian?
jug of rock crystal; lid, handle, mounts, and foot ring of gold,
decorated with enamel, diamonds, sapphires, and rubies
14.6 (57/8) high
Royal Collections, ss 220

The simplicity of the cylindrically turned rock crystal jug

makes an effective foil to the extravagant decoration of
the lid, handle, and foot ring. This combination of op-
posites is an artistic device typical of the baroque period,
used both in large-scale and small-scale projects. South
Germany and the city of Augsburg have been men-
tioned by earlier scholars as possible places of origin.
Another possibility is Bohemia, which was also well
known for its high quality enamel work at this time; in
addition, many of the finest stonecutters of the period
were active in Prague.
The jug is first identifiable in the testamentary docu-
ments drawn up following the death of Queen Hedvig
Eleonora. It is mentioned as a crystal jug with a lid,
handle, and foot of enameled gold decorated with dia-
monds, rubies, and a large sapphire. The jug may have
been in Sweden since the mid-seventeenth century,
however, even though it is not mentioned in the inven-
tories. The difficulty of establishing the history of var-
ious objects in the collection is suggested by the discrep-
ancy between Queen Christina's inventory of 1652,
which lists ten objects of rock crystal in her art cabinet,
and an account of her abdication two years later, which
states that the queen took twelve objects of rock crystal
with her to Rome. Did the collections at Stockholm's
Three Crowns Castle include pieces of rock crystal omit-
ted from the inventories? All we know is that the royal
treasury collection today includes about twenty-five
items of rock crystal, most of which, to judge by their
age, could have belonged to Queen Christina. G.A.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Fogelmarck 1982.

178
 60
Cameo Bowl mid-seventeenth century
Dutch?
gilt silver, enamel, cameos
17 (65/8) high
Royal Collections, ss 22

This covered bowl is one of the most extraordinary ob-

jects from the collection of Hedvig Eleonora, a verdict
already pronounced in the queen's lifetime. The Ulriks-
dal inventory of 1719 describes the bowl and assigns it
a value over four times greater than that of any other
object in the queen's collection, including a large ivory
clock 31 1 /2 inches high. It is not clear how the bowl
came to the Royal Collections. Although it was probably
made in the mid-seventeenth century, it cannot be iden-
tified in the inventories until 1719, by which time it had
presumably belonged to Hedvig Eleonora for decades.
The richly enameled bowl is decorated with flowers
and birds against a turquoise ground, and there is a
painted landscape under the foot. The outsides of the
lid, bowl, and foot are also adorned with cameos of dif-
ferent materials depicting a variety of subjects. Portraits
of Roman emperors mingle, for example, with fabulous
beasts and a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I of England.
The large cameo in the center of the lid may represent
Judith with the head of Holofernes. It is difficult indeed
to elicit a coherent pictorial program from these highly
varied images.
Earlier scholars thought that the bowl was made in
Bohemia, but Holland is now taken to be a likelier
place of origin. The Rosenborg Collection in Copen-
hagen and the Landgrave's Collection in Kassel include
similar bowls, with Holland specified as the probable
country of origin in both cases. G.A.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Fogelmarck 1982;
Stockholm 1966; Steingràber 1969.

180
 Charles XII L682-1718

CHARLES xi DIED of cancer in April 1697 at the age of

forty-two, when his son and heir was only fourteen
years old. The new monarch, Charles XII (Karl XII),
turned fifteen that June and was declared of age in No-
vember. He was crowned king of Sweden in the Stor-
kyrkan in December, dissolving his regency administra-
tion. It is not known whether Charles XII felt any desire
to perpetuate the warlike traditions handed down by his
father and grandfather. But he had no choice, for Den-
mark, Poland, and Russia moved against Sweden almost
immediately upon the accession of the adolescent king,
at a time of apparent weakness. The purpose of the
anti- Sweden alliance was to obliterate Swedish influ-
ence in spheres of interest outside territorial Sweden—
which to Denmark meant Holstein-Gottorp; to Poland,
the Livonian territories; and to Russia, all the other Bal-
tic territories and their ports.
At the beginning of 1700, the Poles attacked Riga, the
Danes invaded Holstein, and the Russians entered In-
gria. Charles XII left Stockholm that summer never to
return. Assisted by his allies, Holland and England,
Charles landed in Denmark, forcing that country to sue
for peace. He then turned eastward, and over the next
few years led the Swedish armies to an unbroken series
of victories: Narva, Dvina, Klissow, Holowczyn. The leg-
end of Charles' invincibility rivaled that of Gustavus
Adolphus, and he was quickly ranked as the greatest
military leader of his era. His defeat at the hand of Peter
the Great at the Battle of Poltava in 1709 ended
Charles' record of successes, however, and marked the
beginning of the end of Sweden's status as a great
power.

182
 Charles XII took refuge in Turkey, remaining there for
five years while negotiating for allies and money with
which to mount a war of revenge against Russia. He fi-
nally returned to Sweden in December 1715, landing in
Skâne. Then in October 1718 he mobilized 20,000 men
to march on Norway. But on 30 November, while on
the Norwegian campaign, a stray bullet from the Nor-
wegian lines (or a well-aimed one from a Swedish mus-
ket) ended the life of the man whose enormous expend-
itures and great sacrifices of lives on the battlefield had
brought his country to the verge of collapse. At the time
of his death, Charles XII was thirty-six years old.
U.G.J.

61
Charles XII 1701
Axel Sparre, 1652-1728
gouache, gold and silver frame encrusted with uncut emeralds
12.7 (5) high
Royal Collections, ss 258

This portrait of Charles XII was painted by the Swedish of uncut emeralds and other precious stones long since
artist Axel Sparre in 1701 when the king was in Russia vanished (presumably diamonds). The portrait served as
at the head of the Swedish army. On 26 July of that a pendant and was probably worn by Dowager Queen
year the Swedish army captured the town of Bauske in Hedvig Eleonora as a "domestic order" at solemn cere-
Courland, as is recorded in a blue enamel inscription on monies. This would have been appropriate since she
the reverse of the medallion. The portrait is of the represented the royal family in Stockholm while the
young king as a victorious warrior, plainly dressed in king was engaged in war abroad. Even today, ladies of
armor and a fur-edged tunic. the Swedish royal family wear the present king's por-
The artist Axel Sparre was a Swedish nobleman who trait in a frame of diamonds on gala occasions.
served during the Russian war as a colonel in the Swed- The reverse of the medallion previously enclosed an
ish army. He was also one of Charles XII's closest allegorical enamel painting: a vertical scepter irradiated
friends. This portrait is the first one known to show the by the eye of God and encircled in a sun. Behind the
king without a wig, and it set the fashion for all subse- sun can be seen cloud formations and flashes of light-
quent portraits of the king. Its military austerity makes ning. The motto of the allegory is IT HARMS NOT. G.A.
an effective contrast to the luxurious design of the
frame, which together with the royal crown, is made up BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stockholm 1930-1931; Fogelmarck 1982.

183
 Nicodemus Tessin the Younger 1654-1728
NlCODEMUS TESSIN THE ELDER ( 1 6 1 5 - 1 6 8 1 ) Came tO
Sweden from Germany at the age of twenty-one, hop-
ing to find patrons in the newly powerful country. After
ten years, he had performed so creditably that he was
appointed royal architect. Nicodemus Tessin the
Younger was born in 1654, the year of Queen Chris-
tina's abdication and departure from Sweden. Thanks to
his father's position, he was assured of a fine career,
and when only twenty-two years old was appointed
royal architect. With a royal pension, he was able to de-
vote several years to an educational tour of Italy and
France. Queen Christina, then living in Rome, intro-
duced him in the best circles, and he absorbed the Ital-
ian high baroque, as represented above all by Gian Lor-
enzo Bernini and Carlo Fontana.
Three years after his return to Sweden, Tessin's father
died and he took over several works in progress. His
principal assignment was Drottningholm Palace, which
had burned down in 1661 soon after its acquisition by
the young dowager queen, Hedvig Eleonora. It had
been redesigned by Tessin the Elder. The son now com-

184
pleted some of the interiors, finished the chapel, and "how-to" treatise, informing his contemporaries about
supplied drawings for gardens in a supremely French the history and state of the art of interior design. He ad-
baroque style, complete with parterres after the manner mitted the superiority of a few foreign designers and
of Le Nôtre. In his work at Drottningholm, Tessin the tried, when he could, to commission them to design
Younger could be said to present a formula by which he major works. Jean Berain the Elder, Louis XIV's drafts-
was principally guided thereafter: Italian, above all Ro- man of the king's chamber, was commissioned to design
man taste is apparent in his churches and in the facades the decoration of a Swedish flagship and a state coach.
of the secular buildings, whereas the interiors, like the In Tessin's mind, only the best available design was
grounds, bear an emphatically French imprint. Tessin suitable for his monarch.
was indeed a great borrower, but an intelligent one, Tessin's chef d'oeuvre, as befitted a royal architect,
never slavishly imitating his artistic models. was Stockholm's new Royal Palace. Shortly after
As Charles XI established his absolutist government in Charles XI's death, the old castle caught fire and was
the 1680s, Tessin's role as court architect expanded to completely devastated, except for the wing that had just
include festive and funeral decorations and the increas- been modernized and rebuilt to Tessin's drawings. Im-
ingly elaborate furnishings of the court. He expanded mediately after the fire, Tessin presented detailed plans,
the Royal Buildings Office and sent an official represent- facades, and sections for a new palace to the dowager
ative to work permanently in Paris keeping him in- queen, Hedvig Eleonora, herself an inveterate builder.
formed about new developments in the arts and recruit- Work began at once. His own exquisitely composed res-
ing artists for Stockholm. Tessin came to see himself as idence was situated opposite the south front of the pal-
an expert in the autocratic life style; his services and ad- ace and was by far the most elegant town residence of
vice were sought abroad, and he actually wrote a its time in Sweden. U.G.J. and G.W.

185
62
Embroidered Upholstery for the Interior Rear Wall
of the State Coach of Charles XI and Charles XII
1696-1699
design by Jean Berain the Elder, 1637-1711; embroidery by
Tobias Leuw; painted silk appliqué by Jacques Foucquet
silver and gold fabric (moiré) with silk embroidery and
painted silk appliqué
138 x 134 (543/s x 523/4)
Royal Armory, 5722.1

In February 1696, a year before fire consumed the incorporating the same general patterns. The roof or im-
Three Crowns Palace in Stockholm, another fire swept perial of the coach should have been given the form of
through the Royal Stables. All of the royal carriages a star-spangled heavenly dome, but for lack of time it
were destroyed, among them the coronation coach and was decorated with a flat rosette oval instead. Its design
three other coaches made in France in the 1670s for is reflected in the boulle inlay (turtle shell and brass) of
Charles XL Nicodemus Tessin the Younger immediately the coach floor, in which the central oval, like a re-
ordered a new state coach from Paris for the king. flected image of the ceiling's oval with stars, is filled
Drawings were prepared by Louis XIV's coachbuilder, with flowers.
and the decoration was provided by Jean Berain, "de- Berain's drawings for the upholstery of the rear wall
signer of the king's chamber/' of the coach (see cat. 63) have been followed with one
The body of the new coach was made in Paris and exception: the border has been removed because Tessin
shipped to Sweden, but by the time it arrived in Stock- felt this would make it possible to enlarge the figures,
holm in May 1697, Charles XI was dead. It was not as- thus rendering the whole composition more monumen-
sembled and decorated until 1699, when minor altera- tal. Tessin also changed the color of the background,
tions were made to Berain's designs to relate them more choosing brilliant silver fabric instead of blue velvet.
closely to the young King Charles XII. This work was The textiles were removed from the coach in 1751
completed by the foremost French sculptors, painters, when it was partly modernized for the coronation of
and silversmiths employed on the new Royal Palace in Adolph Frederick and Lovisa Ulrika. The coach remains
Stockholm. The external and internal embroideries were largely as it was after that alteration and occupies a
done in 1699 by Tobias Leuw, an embroiderer of Ger- central position in Swedish ceremonial history, having
man origin; and the silk appliqués were painted by the been used from 1751 until the end of the nineteenth
Frenchman Jacques Foucquet. century as a coronation coach for the queens of
The carriage was intended for use as Charles XIFs Sweden. A.T.-J.
wedding coach, and the allegorical paintings were
adapted accordingly, but the king never married. Instead BIBLIOGRAPHY: Tydén-Jordan 1985; Astrid Tydén-Jordan,
the coach was first driven in July 1699, when Charles "Projet de décoration de Jean Berain pour la carrosse de gala
de Charles XI de Suède," Versailles à Stockholm (Nationalmusei
honored his sister Hedvig Sophia and brother-in-law
skriftserie 5) (Stockholm, 1985); Tydén-Jordan 1984, 12; As-
Duke Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp with a state entry trid Tydén-Jordan, "Jacques De Meaux," Svenskt biografiskt
into Stockholm. Among all coaches of the highest royal lexikon, Hàfte 122, bd 25 (Stockholm, 1985); Astrid Tydén-
rank, this is the oldest surviving coach of the classical Jordan, "Karosser," in Stockholm 1986, 44ff; Cari Hernmarck,
French type known as carosse moderne. "Jean Berains fôrslag till galakaross for Karl XI/' Kunglig prakt
Jean Berain's designs for the decoration of the coach frân barock och rokoko (Nationalmusei handteckningssamling 5)
were carefully worked out, and they represent the ar- (Malmô, 1948); Cari Hernmarck, "1699 ârs krôningsvagn,"
tist's delicately linear ornamental style at its most ma- Livrustkammaren 6 (1952), 1-2; Rudolf H. Wackernagel, Der
ture. This style evolved from the Italian grotesque, and franzosische Kronungswagen von 1696-1825 (Berlin, 1966); Ru-
through the medium of engraving, it was a major influ- dolf H. Wackernagel, "Festwagen," Reallexikon zur deutschen
ence on interior design and fine arts throughout Europe. Kunstgeschichte 87-88 (Munich, 1982-1983); The Royal Ar-
moury (Stockholm, 1978), 54; Jérôme de la Gorce, Berain: Des-
The interior of this coach has points in common with
sinateur du Roi Soleil (Paris 1986), 55ff.
the ceremonial rooms of palace apartments built in
France during the baroque era, with floor and ceiling

186
63
Drawings for a State Coach for Charles XI
1696
workshop of Jean Berain
pen and black ink, watercolor
ceiling, 19.8 x 20.8 (73/4 x SVs); back, 21 x 20.2 (81Á x 77/8)
Nationalmuseum, THC 930, 925

Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, in his capacity as royal The Swedish envoy Daniel Cronstrom reported to
architect, was responsible not only for building activities Tessin on the work going on at the French court. He
but also for the overall aesthetic organization of court made friends with the artists and collected their draw-
life and entertainment. This included interior decora- ings. When he could not get the originals, he commis-
tion, furniture and other applied arts, decorations for sioned copies, and he constantly strove to add to Tes-
ceremonial occasions, stage design, and costumes for sin's collection, filling in gaps whenever possible.
masquerades. Tessin sought out the best European Occasionally, Cronstrom negotiated the purchase of
models and adapted them for these purposes, or he or- whole groups of prints and drawings. He also served as
dered designs from other artists. He was constantly on intermediary and advisor for Tessin's many commissions
the lookout for prints and drawings that could be of use for the court and for members of the Swedish nobility.
or simply would keep him informed. In architecture he Whenever possible the artists who worked for the
favored the Roman baroque, but for interior decoration French king were used. Tessin himself met the French
and other needs he turned to Versailles and the court artist Jean Berain in Paris in 1687 and remained a life-
there. long friend and admirer. His collection of Berain's
works in Stockholm was therefore extensive.
Berain produced a series of sketches for a state coach,
and in August 1696 sent to Stockholm finished drawings
suitable for presentation at the court. Eight of Berain's
drawings are preserved, showing the main aspects
of the exterior, the decoration of the interior, and some
details. The exhibited drawings are for the ceiling and
back panels inside the coach. The stars in the center of
the ceiling in the drawing are an allusion to Charles XI's
motto, Nescit occasum. The surrounding ornamentation
cleverly uses the king's monogram, the letter C with a
mirrored C intertwined. This ceiling design was substan-
tially modified in the finished coach (see cat. 62). B.M.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Carl Hernmarck, "Jean Berains fôrslag till gala-
kaross for Karl XI," Kunglig prakt frán barock och rokoko (Na-
tionalmusei handteckningssamling 5) (Malmô, 1948), 63-83;
Carl Hernmarck, "1699 ârs krôningsvagn," Livrustkammaren 6
(1952), 1-2; R.-A. Weigert and Carl Hernmarck, L'Art en
France et en Suède 1693-1718: Extraits d'une correspondence entre
l'architecte Nicodème Tessin le jeune et Daniel Cronstrom (Stock-
holm, 1964), 138ff.; Rudolf H. Wackernagel, Der franzosische
Kronungswagen von 1696-1825 (Berlin, 1966), 66ff.; Tydén-
Jordan 1985, pi. 2; Paris, Hôtel de Marie, Versailles à Stockholm
(Stockholm, 1985), nos. R6 and R5.
64
Model for an Equestrian Statue of Charles XI
1699
Bernard Foucquet, il. 1640-1711
bronze
65 x 53.5 (25V2 x 21)
Royal Collections, 63

The architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger prepared conceived and originally devised. The bas reliefs rich.
drawings for a new Royal Palace to replace Three The form of the base beautiful and the whole very
Crowns Castle, destroyed by fire in 1697. But he also beautiful. One would like: The field marshal's baton
wanted to surround the building with a magnificent to be made shorter, the upper part of the base to be
townscape in the Italian baroque style. The inner court- made longer; the cornice to have greater depth. They
yard of the palace was the focal point of this vision. A find that the cornice, which is underneath the mould-
parade ground, measuring almost 262 x 295 feet, it was ing, does not accord with taste here, any more than
to resemble an Italian piazza or a Parisian ceremonial the semi-circular moulding underneath, that the bas
square such as the Place Vendôme. Tessin planned a gi- reliefs are too large, that the swords and spears of the
gantic equestrian statue of Charles XI as the centerpiece figures will be liable to get broken in a public place,
of the courtyard. and also that the repetition of the two steps in the
As usual, the architect closely specified the design of base detracts from the beauty of the foundation. . . .
the statue, but the construction of a model was en- The grandiloquent dream of an equestrian monument
trusted to Bernard Foucquet, a French sculptor working to Charles XI never advanced beyond a bronze model
on the palace and a pupil of François Girardon. Fouc- and another version, now lost, cast in silver. The new
quet's work followed the French tradition. Some twenty Swedish king Charles XII took an active part in rebuild-
different equestrian statues of Louis XIV had been ing the Royal Palace, but was not interested in sculp-
planned at this time, and Girardon was in fact working ture. As a result, a number of Tessin's sculptural projects
on one for the Place Vendôme. It is obvious that both for the palace were never realized, the equestrian statue
Tessin and Foucquet were inspired by this French sculp- included. The king's representative, Casten Feif, in-
tural tradition, but Foucquet invested his work with an formed Tessin: "His Majesty feels, moreover, that the
original force and vitality. statue to be installed in the courtyard will not only de-
Sebastian le Clerc prepared a perspective drawing of tract from its beauty but will also obstruct the beautiful
the monument, with the metal parts painted gold and view otherwise obtainable all the way from the outer
the model painted yellow. This drawing shows that the courtyard through both wings as far as Djurgârden or
sides of the base were to be decorated with reliefs, and Skeppsholmen. . . ." This shows clearly the considerable
the corners marked with frieze sculptures extolling the personal involvement of the king in the artistic projects
virtues of the king: strength, justice, moderation, and of his reign, which continued even when he was abroad
wisdom. Le Clerc's drawing was sent to Paris for exami- in the field. G.A.
nation by the foremost French experts. It was even
shown to the king of France, Louis XIV. Daniel Cron- BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hjalmar Friis, Rytterstatuens Historie i Europa
strôm, a Swedish diplomat in Paris, wrote to Tessin in (Copenhagen, 1933); Ragnar Josephson, Nicodemus Tessin d.y.,
2 vols. (Stockholm, 1930-1931); Andreas Lindblom, Fransk
Stockholm:
Barock- och Rokokoskulptur i Sverige (Uppsala, 1923); Stockholm
They find: The figure proud and beautiful. The horse 1986.
noble and tasteful. The virtues on the pedestal well

190
65
Design for a Ceiling in Nicodemus Tessin's
Palace in Stockholm
René Chauveau, 1663-1722
pen and black ink, watercolors
47.8 x 58 (18 3 / 4 x 22V 4 )
Nationalmuseum, THC 4870

The building of the new Royal Palace in Stockholm was fewer figures than the adjoining ones. This note of aus-
the greatest artistic achievement of its time in Sweden. terity corresponded to the program for the room, which
Construction began in the late 1690s and continued into was "the contentment brought about through the study
the 1750s. French artists and artisans were called in, of philosophy." Inserted into the ornament of the ceil-
and their work was influential in the development of ing are ten portraits of Greek philosophers; and in the
the Swedish art of design. The first tangible result of four corners are small scenes depicting the defeat of Av-
their skills, however, was the royal architect Tessin's arice, Fraud, Arrogance, and Lascivity.
own house, erected just opposite the Royal Palace, on The ornamental character of the ceiling closely re-
the south side, and completed while nothing more than sembles that of the ceiling for the Hôtel Mallet that Jean
the foundations of the south facade of the palace were Berain the Elder designed in Paris. Tessin had acquired
laid. Tessin's house was largely finished by 1697, but drawings of that ceiling, which are still in the National-
work on the interior decoration continued for another museum's collections (THC 4682-4687). Tessin's ceilings
four years. were executed by another of the French artists in Stock-
The most important feature of the interior is a suite of holm, Jacques de Meaux, who had been working with
state rooms—salon, anteroom, and bedchamber—elabo- Berain in Paris. De Meaux arrived in Stockholm in Au-
rately decorated according to contemporary French gust 1697, and probably went to work at Tessin's house
taste. For this task, Tessin employed the French artists immediately. The ceilings were finished in the spring of
who were working on the Royal Palace. The drawings 1699, and remain in place today. B.M.
for the ceilings were worked out by René Chauveau
from Tessin's program. Chauveau, who was active in BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Legran (F. U. Wrangel), Tessinska palatset
Sweden from 1693 to 1700, was actually a sculptor, but (Stockholm, 1912), 1 Iff.; Ragnar Josephson, Nicodemus Tessin
d.y., vol. 2 (Stockholm, 1931), 178ff., figs. 159, 160; A. Laine,
his facility as a draughtsman made him well suited for a
Invention och imitation (Stockholm, 1972), 51-63; Per Bjur-
project of this kind. Among his other works are sculp- strôm, French Drawings, vol. 1, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centu-
tures for the Royal Palace, reliefs for Tessin's house, as ries (Drawings in Swedish Public Collections 2) (Stockholm,
well as designs for festive occasions, including fireworks. 1976), no. 319; Nicodemus Tessin d.y. 1654-1728 [exh. cat., Na-
The decoration of the anteroom in Tessin's house is tionalmuseum/Tessin Palace] (Stockholm, 1978), no. 12;
the most restrained of the three rooms. The predomi- Stockholm 1986, no. 136.
nant colors are blue and gold, and the ceiling includes

192
 Photo credits
Credit for photographs is due as follows: Nationalmuseum,
cats. 25 (Eric Cornelius), 28, 32, 36 (Alexis Daflos), 63, and
65; Royal Armory, cats. 18, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 29, 38, 39, 43,
44, 48, 52, 53, 54 (Per Ake Persson), and cats. 4-5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 34, 35, 37, 40, 41, 42, 46-47, 49,
50, 51, and 62 (Goran Schmidt); the Treasury, Royal Palace,
and Royal Armory (for Stràngnàs), cats. 1, 2b (orb), 3, 12, 13
(Karl-Erik Granath); the Treasury, Royal Palace, and Royal
Collections, cats. 2a (scepter), 14, 24, 30, 31, 33, 45, 55, 56,
57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64 (Sven Nilsson).

Detail, cat. 2

194