Grundlovgivende rigsforsamling - Constantin Hansen

Carl Christian Constantin Hansen (Constantin Hansen) (3 November 1804 – 29 March 1880) was one of the painters associated with the

Golden Age of Danish Painting The Danish Golden Age ( da, Den danske guldalder) covers a period of exceptional creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the 19th century.Kulturnet DanmarkGuide to the Danish Golden Age Although Copenhagen had suffered ...

. He was deeply interested in literature and

mythology 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 narra ...

, and inspired by art historian

Niels Laurits Høyen Niels Laurits Andreas Høyen (4 June 1798 – 29 April 1870) is considered to be the first Danish art historian and critic. He promoted a Danish nationalistic art through his writings and lectures, and exerted a far reaching effect on contempo ...

, he tried to recreate a national

historical painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

based on Norse mythology. He painted also many altarpieces and

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

s, including the monumental oil painting '' The Danish Constituent Assembly'' (''Den grundlovgivende Rigsforsamling'') between 1861 and 1865.

Early life

He was born in

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 ...

, the son of portrait painter Hans Hansen. The family soon relocated to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where

Constanze Mozart Maria Constanze Cäcilia Josepha Johanna Aloysia Mozart ( née Weber; 5 January 1762 – 6 March 1842) was a trained Austrian singer. She was married twice, first to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; then to Georg Nikolaus von Nissen. She and Mozart had s ...

, the widow of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

, became godmother at his christening and he was named after her. Within his first year, the family moved to

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 ...

, where he was raised.

Education

He entered the architecture school of 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'') at 12 years of age, but changed his course of study to painting at the age of 21. He began his training under

Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (2 January 1783 – 22 July 1853) was a Danish painter. He was born in Blåkrog in the Southern Jutland region of Denmark. He went on to lay the foundation for the period of art known as the Golden Age of Da ...

in 1828. He lost both his parents at about this time to

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

, and became the sole supporter of his younger sisters. He took over several commissions that had belonged to his father, including some copies to the Portrait Collection at

Frederiksborg Palace Frederiksborg Castle ( da, Frederiksborg Slot) is a palatial complex in Hillerød, Denmark. It was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 17th century, replacing an older castle acquired by Frederick II ...

and decorative paintings to Christiansborg Palace.

Foreign study

In 1835 he received a two-year stipend to travel abroad, which was followed up by an additional year's stipend. His travels took him through Berlin,

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

on his way to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, where he travelled extensively and stayed longer periods in Rome,

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and Pompeii. In Italy he met fellow Dane, the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. He travelled with other Danish artists, including Jørgen Roed,

Christen Købke Christen Schiellerup Købke (26 May 1810 – 7 February 1848) was a Danish painter, and one of the best known artists from the Golden Age of Danish Painting. Childhood and early training He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was one of 11 ...

and decorative painter Georg Hilker (1807–1875). The Copenhagen Art Union (''Kunstforening'') commissioned a painting from Hansen in 1837. He provided them with '' A Group of Danish Artists in Rome'', (''Et Selskab af danske Kunstnere i Rom''). In addition he painted Italian folk scenes, and studies of Roman antiquities and architecture that reflect Eckersberg's spirit. After eight years in Italy he finally returned to Denmark, staying briefly in Munich, where he studied the technique of fresco painting, in anticipation of a commission, along with Georg Hilker, to decorate the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

's vestibule on Frue Plads. This work continued from 1844 until 1853. Hansen painted the mythological figures, while Hilker painted the decorations and frameworks.

Marriage

He married Magdalene Barbara Købke in 1846, and they had thirteen children. However, four children died within one year after being born and one of their sons, Hans Christian, was killed at the age of nineteen in a shipwreck. In 1854 he was named professor at the Academy, but first became member of the Academy in 1864. One of his daughters,

Elise Konstantin-Hansen Elise Konstantin-Hansen (1858–1946) was a Danish painter and ceramist. She developed her own naturalistic style, often painting sea birds, animals, plants and beach scenes. Early life and education Konstantin-Hansen was born in the Frederiks ...

, (1858–1946) became a recognized painter, and another Kristiane Konstantin-Hansen (1848–1925), became a

tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...

weaver.

References

Other sources