Hans Peter L'Orange (2 March 1903 – 5 December 1983) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

art historian and classical archaeologist.

Biography

L'Orange was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

(now Oslo), Norway. He was a son of Major General Hans Wilhelm L'Orange (1868–1950) and Ginni Gulbranson (1879–1949). His family had its origin from among the French

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

. He was a paternal grandson of military officer Hans Peter L'Orange (1835–1907), maternal grandson of businessowner Carl August Gulbranson (1831–1910) and brother-in-law of journalist and writer, Gunnar Larsen (1900–1958). From 1930 to 1936 he was a university fellow resident in Rome. He studied art history at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

. He took the dr.philos. degree at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1933 with his thesis ''Studien zur Geschichte des spätantiken Porträts''. He was a professor of classical archaeology at the

from 1942 to 1973. In 1959 he and professor Hjalmar Torpe established the Norwegian Institute in Rome (''Det norske institutt i Roma'') as an affiliate of the University of Oslo. The institute established a permanent Norwegian base for research and studies of the Mediterranean countries. He was director of the institute until he retired in 1973. He was a visiting professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

(1950) and at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

(1966–1967). In 1969 he was awarded the

Arts Council Norway Honorary Award The Arts Council Norway Honorary Award ( no, Norsk kulturråds ærespris) is awarded annually by the Arts Council Norway. The prize is awarded annually to a person who has made a significant contribution to Norwegian art and culture. The pri ...

(''Norsk kulturråds ærespris''). He was awarded the

Gunnerus Medal The Gunnerus Medal ( no, Gunnerusmedaljen) is a medal awarded by the learned society Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. It was inaugurated in 1927, and named after Johan Ernst Gunnerus, founder of the learned society. Members of the l ...

by the

Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters ( da, Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab, DKNVS) is a Norwegian learned society based in Trondheim. It was founded in 1760 and is Norway's oldest scientific and scholarly institution. The ...

in 1970.

Selected works

*''Apotheosis in Ancient Portraiture'' - 1947 *''Keiseren på himmeltronen'' - 1949 *''Romersk idyll'' - 1952 *''Mot middelalder'' - 1963 *''Romerske keisere i marmor og bronse''- 1967 *''Sentrum og periferi. Ni utvalgte essays'' - 1973

References

1903 births 1983 deaths Writers from Oslo Norwegian art historians Archaeologists from Oslo Norwegian people of French descent Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo 20th-century Norwegian writers 20th-century archaeologists {{Norway-academic-bio-stub