Mårten Eskil Winge (21 September 1825 – 22 April 1896) was a Swedish artist. He was a professor at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other fine arts, it is one of seve ...

. He was associated with the

Düsseldorf school of painting Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. His art was influenced by the

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

themes also found in works by Nils Blommér (1816–1853) and Carl Wahlbom (1810-1858).

Biography

Born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Mårten Eskil Winge was the son of the rector and

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

Isaac Martin Winge and Andrietta Sophia Rothman. Winge was educated at the Uppsala Cathedral School, passing his studentexamen in 1846, after which he became an apprentice in painting with P. E. Wallander in

. The following year, he enrolled in the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. While studying there, he worked at the post office and painted portraits for additional income. He had become interested in the Old Norse

saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

s while growing up, and during his studies his elaborate drawings on Norse topics attracted attention. Among other things, he illustrated ''Nordens Guder'' by Danish poet and playwright Adam Oehlenschläger (1779–1850) and Crown Prince

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

's poems ''Fosterbröderna'' (1848) ''Heidi, Gylfes dotter'' (1852) and ''En vikingasaga'' (1855). He was also attracted to Gothicismus, the movement in Sweden under the influence of national romanticism to reclaim the

Norsemen The Norsemen (or Northmen) were a cultural group in the Early Middle Ages, originating among speakers of Old Norse in Scandinavia. During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a Viking expansion, large-scale expansion in all direc ...

as heroic ancestors; together with his fellow student and friend, August Malmström (1829–1901), he revived motifs from Norse history and legends. In 1856 Winge became a student of Johan Christoffer Boklund (1817–1880) in the newly established school of painting at the Royal Swedish Academy. The following year he received a Royal Medal for his painting of King

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

at the death bed of

Axel Oxenstierna Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna (; 1583–1654) was a Swedish statesman and Count of Södermöre. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of ...

(1583–1654), and received a three-year stipend that enabled him to take a field trip by way of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he studied with Thomas Couture (1815–1879) and where he visited the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

to copy

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

' ''The Wise Men in Bethlehem''. The stipend was extended for a further three years, and in 1859 he made a trip to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

before returning to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in 1863. In 1864 Winge became a member of the Academy of Arts and eventually, after various jobs as a drawing teacher, a professor. In 1865 he opened a school of painting in his studio and in 1877 he returned to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

gave him great artistic experiences and inspiration. Winge created several paintings on Norse legendary and mythological topics in the 1860s, which attracted much interest and approval. For the first after his return to Sweden, '' Hjalmar's farewell to Örvar-Oddr after the Battle of

Samsø Samsø (Anglicized: "Samso" or "Samsoe") is a Denmark, Danish island in the Kattegat off the Jutland Peninsula. Samsø is located in Samsø municipality. The community has 3,724 inhabitants (2017) (January 2010:4,010) called ''Samsings'' and is ...

'',

Charles XV Charles XV or Carl (''Carl Ludvig Eugen''; Swedish language, Swedish and Norwegian language, Norwegian officially: ''Karl''; 3 May 1826 – 18 September 1872) was King of Sweden and List of Norwegian monarchs, Norway, there often referred to as C ...

, now king, assisted with the landscape. His '' Thor's Fight with the Giants'' (1872), deemed a "typical 19th-century image of the Thunder God", was commissioned and bought by Charles XV, who also bought ''Kraka'' (1862). It is in the collection of the

Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum is the List of national galleries, national gallery of fine arts of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretch far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, including the Natio ...

in Stockholm, where Winge painted eight of the portraits of artists for the ceiling. Beginning in the 1870s, he was commissioned to produce

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

s for several churches. He also painted decorations for the Bolinderska palace (today part of the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm) and for Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle in

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

. In his last years he made several paintings of waves breaking on the sea shore.

Personal life

In 1867, he married textile artist Hanna Winge, née Tengelin (1838–1896). She was a genre painter and co-founder of a craftsmen's association, Friends of Handicraft. He died during 1896 in

Enköping Enköping is a locality and the seat of Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 30,000 inhabitants in 2018. Geography Enköping is situated near Lake Mälaren, about 78 km west of Stockholm. A comparably large number of S ...

Gallery

Image:Kraka by Winge.jpg, '' Kraka'' (1862) Image:Loki, by Mårten Eskil Winge 1890.jpg, ''

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

and

Sigyn Sigyn (Old Norse "(woman) friend of victory"Orchard (1997:146).) is a deity from Norse mythology. She is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th ...

'' (1863) Image:Hjalmars avsked av Orvar Odd efter striden på Samsö.jpg, '' Hjalmar's farewell to Örvar-Oddr after the Battle of

'' (1866) File:Mårten Eskil Winge - Tor's Fight with the Giants - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Thor's Fight with the Giants'' (1872)

References

Other sources

* ''Från vår konstverld'
Public domain text in Swedish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winge, Marten Eskil 1825 births 1896 deaths Artists from Stockholm 19th-century Swedish painters Swedish male painters Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts 19th-century Swedish educators 19th-century painters of historical subjects 19th-century Swedish male artists Düsseldorf school of painting