Emma Emilia Sigrid Charlotte Blomberg (1863–1941) was a Swedish sculptor who focused on

religious art Religious art is artistic imagery using religious inspiration and motifs and is often intended to uplift the mind to the spiritual. Sacred art involves the ritual and cultic practices and practical and operative aspects of the path of the spiritu ...

. One of her most notable creations is ''Bebådelsen'' (The Annunciation, 1900), a marble statue depicting the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

on her knees in prayer, her head turned upwards. It was the first sculpture by a woman to be acquired by the

Swedish National Museum Nationalmuseum (or National Museum of Fine Arts) is the national gallery of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretches far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, the nationalmuseum manage ...

. After carving the wooden ''Madonna del Fuoco'' (Madonna of the Fire) in 1912, she had to abandon sculpture as a result of poor sight. Thereafter she made a living as a bookbinder.

Biography

Born on 17 October 1863 in Fliseryd,

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

, Emma Emilia Sigrid Charlotte Blomberg was the daughter of the farmer Johan Alfred Blomberg (1828–1894) and Charlotta Eleonora née Lundqvist (1829–1895). Raised with her five siblings on her father's farm, she attended the Nisbeth Girls' School in

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

. Intending to become a carpenter, in 1888 she attended the Technical School in Stockholm. Suddenly discovering the possibilities of sculpting with clay, she went on to study at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Art The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, archite ...

from 1889 to 1898, following

Axel Tallberg Axel Tallberg (23 September 1860 – 8 January 1928) was a Swedish visual artist and engraver. He is remembered for his etching course at the Royal Swedish Academy of Art and for his portraits, including those of King Oscar II, Leo Tolstoy and Th ...

's etching course (1895–1896). During this period, she spent three years studying in Germany, mainly in

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 larg ...

. In 1894, she was awarded the Academy's Hertigliga Medal for her sculpture ''Ormtjuserskan'' (Snake Charmer), subsequently purchased by

Västerås Castle Västerås Castle (''Västerås slott'') is situated at Västerås in the province of Västmanland, Sweden. History The castle was originally built during the 12th century and in 1540-1544 it was rebuilt. During the latter part of the 17th ce ...

. From 1896, she was awarded various scholarships which allowed her to continue her studies. During her final year at the Academy, she was awarded the Royal Medal for her figurines ''Kristus'' and ''Maria'' (Christ and Mary), part of a series of five she was creating for Oskarshamn Church (completed in 1899). In 1898, she used plaster to create a model for her most famous piece, ''Bebådelsen'', which was initially displayed at the Academy. The final version in marble was created in Italy under Blomberg's supervision and was acquired by the National Museum in 1900. Depicting the Virgin Mary kneeling in prayer, it was greatly appreciated by visitors to the museum and was later mass-produced in terracotta miniatures which became popular in Swedish homes. In 1900 she joined

Nya Idun Nya Idun is a Swedish cultural association for women founded in 1885, originally as a female counterpart to Sällskapet Idun ('the Idun Society'). Its aim was to "gather educated women in the Stockholm area for informal gatherings". There was a ...

, a women's association. It was there she met Sigrid Leijonhufvud, whom she lived with. Thanks to the many commissions Blomberg received for producing religious works, she was able to maintain a studio in Italy between 1900 and 1912. She was commissioned to produce funerary monuments for the Östra Cemetery in Gothenburg and a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

for

Viktor Rydberg Abraham Viktor Rydberg (; 18 December 182821 September 1895) was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877–1895. "Primarily a classical idealist", Viktor Rydberg has been described as "Sweden's last Romantic" and by 1859 was ...

's monument. In 1912, she created her last work, the wooden ''Madonna del Fuoco'' (Madonna of the Fire) inspired by the flames in her fireplace. Thereafter she earned her living as a bookbinder. Sigrid Blomberg died in

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 65,856 inhabitants in 2020 with 95,167 inhabitants ...

on 28 January 1941.

Biography

References

Further reading