Carl Georg Brunius (23 March 1793 – 12 November 1869) was a classical scholar, art historian, archaeologist and architect. He served as a professor and rector at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Lund Cathedral.

Biography

Brunius was born at Tanum parish in

Tanum Municipality Tanum Municipality (; ''Tanums kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in southwestern Sweden. Its seat is the town of Tanumshede, with 1,600 inhabitants. The present municipality was formed in 1971 through the amalgamation of thr ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...

, Sweden. He was the son of the vicar Gomer Brunius and his wife Mariana Rodhe. He studied at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Esaias Tegnér (1782–1846) became Bishop of the

Diocese of Växjö The Diocese of Växjö ( sv, Växjö stift) is one of the 13 dioceses or regional units of the Lutheran Church of Sweden. It was also a former Roman Catholic bishopric. Lutheran diocese Diocese of Växjö is situated in southern Sweden and i ...

. Brunius also served as rector in 1831 and 1841 and retired as professor emeritus in 1858. Brunius spent most of his career in the study of art, architecture and antiquities and as a working architect. The focus in classical scholarship in the age in which Brunius worked was on the practical mastering of the languages. However beyond a few Latin poems, his contributions within his academic discipline were insignificant and had mostly ceased by the time he received his professorial chair. Together with professor Johan Gustaf Liljegren (1791–1837), Brunius co-authored the first part of ''Nordiska fornlemningar'', published in 1819 as well as a work on

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s. Brunius later produced the first systematic investigation of mediaeval art and architecture in current Sweden, writing substantial works on the history of art in

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...

and on the island of

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to ...

. In his architectural work, Brunius wanted to revive the mediaeval styles; Romanesque as well as the more fashionable Gothic, which he preferred over the more recent Baroque and Rococo styles. His career as an architect began with his work on Lund Cathedral in collaboration with Stockholm based architect Axel Nyström (1793–1868). The Cathedral had for some time been in severe need of restoration and Nyström was given the job in 1832. Brunius had a keen interest in draughtsmanship dating from childhood. He had been elected a member of the Lund Cathedral assembly (''domkyrkoråd'') in 1831 and was later elected chairman. He was entrusted with the task of supervising the work on the Cathedral, which took more than 25 years to complete. Brunius designed or restored a number of other buildings in Lund, including the Bishop's House and a house for himself, as well as a large number of parish churches and other buildings in the surrounding province of Scania.Rydbeck p. 509-510

Personal life

In 1829, he was married with Maria Charlotta Tillander (1804-1883). Brunius died in Lund and was buried at Östra kyrkogården, Lund.

Selected works

''Nordens äldsta metropolitankyrka; eller, Historisk och arkitektonisk beskrifning öfver Lunds domkyrka''
(1836)

References

Other sources

*Rydbeck, Otto (1926) "Brunius, Carl Georg" (Svenskt biografiskt lexikon) *Rydbeck, Otto (1915) ''Bidrag till Lunds domkyrkas byggnadshistoria'' (Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup) *Grandien, Bo (1971) ''Från latinskald till byggmästare: biografisk inledning till ett studium av Carl Georg Brunius som arkitekt, restaurator och konstvetenskaplig författare'' (Uppsala University) *Green, Allan (1992) ''Carl Georg Brunius: en bohuslänning i Lund : till 200-årsminnet av hans födelse'' (Uddevalla : Bohusläns museum) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunius, Carl Georg 1793 births 1869 deaths People from Tanum Municipality Lund University alumni Lund University faculty Swedish art historians Swedish archaeologists Swedish architects Classical philologists