Johan Edvard Mandelberg (22 January 1730 – 8 January 1786),

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

-born painter living in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, was born at sea during a voyage between

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and Livland, Sweden.

Life

Mandelberg seeks training

He was born to

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Johan Edvard Mandelberg and his wife Hedvig Sophia. His father taught him to draw and paint, and he worked in his father’s workshop in Stockholm. On seeing a battle picture by Johan Philip Lembke at

Drottningholm Palace The Drottningholm Palace ( sv, Drottningholms slott) is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. Drottningholm is near the capital Stockholm. Built on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), it is one of Sweden ...

, Johan became determined also to paint battle scenes. Since there was no possibility in Sweden for him to get the necessary training for his ambitions, he received financial backing from three supporters who sent him to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1752. He went to Paris by way of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

along with

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 ...

-born medallionist Magnus Gustavus Arbien (1716–1760). It was in Copenhagen that he became acquainted with

Carl Gustaf Pilo Carl Gustaf Pilo (5 March 1711 – 2 March 1793) was a Swedish artist and painter. Pilo worked extensively in Denmark as a painter to the Danish Royal Court and as professor and director at the Royal Danish Academy of Art ( da, Det Kongel ...

(1712/1713?-1793), professor at the Drawing and Painting Academy, predecessor to the

Royal Danish Academy of Art The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dani ...

(''Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi'').

He comes to Paris

He came to Paris with good recommendations and came into the leading French art circles where he caught the attention and interest of Count Philippe de Caylus, renowned artist

François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...

, and fellow Swede

Alexander Roslin Alexander Roslin (spelled Alexandre in French, ; 15 July 17185 July 1793) was a Swedish portrait painter who worked in Scania, Bayreuth, Paris, Italy, Warsaw and St. Petersburg, primarily for members of aristocratic families. He combined insight ...

(1718–1798). He found work at

’s atelier in 1753. He was impoverished, and made small battle pictures in pen and ink, as well as copies of paintings to supplement his meager earnings. Arbien helped Mandelburg secure financial support by contacting Pilo in Copenhagen, who then interested the Danish Legation secretary to the French Court in Paris Justitsråd Joachim Wasserschlebe, foreign minister Count Johan Hartvig Ernst Bernstorff and

Adam Gottlob Moltke Count Adam Gottlob von Moltke (10 November 171025 September 1792) was a Danish courtier, statesman and diplomat, and Favourite of Frederick V of Denmark. Moltke was born at Riesenhof in Mecklenburg. His son, Joachim Godske Moltke, and his gran ...

, and finally through them King

Frederick V of Denmark Frederick V (Danish and Norwegian: ''Frederik V''; 31 March 1723 – 14 January 1766) was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein from 6 August 1746 until his death in 1766. He was the son of Christian VI of Denmark and Sophie Ma ...

. The King's support was generous, but conditional—Mandelburg would need to commit himself to Denmark and his Court.

Subsequent training in Rome

After his three-year studies in Paris he went on to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where from late 1755 he came into the antique art enthusiast circle around Danish

Johannes Wiedewelt Johannes Wiedewelt (1 July 1731 – 17 December 1802), Danish neoclassical sculptor. He became a court sculptor, introducing neoclassical ideals to Denmark in the form of palace decorations, garden sculptures and artifacts and, especially, mem ...

, Italian

Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign visitors tra ...

and German

Anton Raphael Mengs Anton Raphael Mengs (22 March 1728 – 29 June 1779) was a German people, German painter, active in Dresden, Rome, and Madrid, who while painting in the Rococo period of the mid-18th century became one of the precursors to Neoclassicism, Neoclas ...

. Wiedewelt would become a lifelong friend. He painted several battle scenes in Rome, among which were paintings made for Wiedewelt, and for Court Marshall Bülow. On July 1, 1758 he traveled back to

in the company of Wiedelwelt. They traveled over

Caprarola Caprarola is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. The village is situated in a range of volcanic hills known as the Cimini Mounts. The town is home to the large Renaissance mansion or villa which ...

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, and

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

where they studied the local art collections and churches, and on through the

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. They arrived back to

on October 6, 1758.

Career in Copenhagen

Only 4 years after its opening in 1754, he was accepted as a member of the

(''Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi''). When sculptor Johan Christof Petzold died in 1763, Mandelberg was granted his vacated professorship. He married Anna Margaretha Meyer on May 26, 1781. She died May 5, 1823. He had plenty of work, but unfortunately there came no assignments for him in his specialty area of battle painting; but he would have to be named

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and battle painter for the royal court in order to win these projects. He was mostly employed painting

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

paintings, depictions of courtly life, and decorations paintings. Among these were many large pictures and decorations for the royal palaces. He was so busy that he had to use extra help from competent students at the Academy such as

Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard (11 September 1743 – 4 June 1809) was a Danish neoclassical and royal history painter, sculptor, architect, and professor of painting, mythology, and anatomy at the New Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen ...

, with whom he would again work together on decorations to the Knights' Room at

Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...

. He died on January 8, 1786 in

References