Kristina, Queen of Sweden, as a Child

Additional texteExhibition text: Christina is portrayed as the sovereign. Standing next to a table on which lies the crown and the sceptre, she holds the orb in one hand. The artist’s task was to paint a queen who was still a child, who had to be rendered portrait-like but exalted. Her face reflects her sense of duty and self-restraint. The decorative emphasis of the dress harks back to the International Court Style of the 16th century. Description: Christina emerges here as queen in all her pomp and splendor, tightly gripping the orb. At first glance it can be difficult to apprehend that the portrait shows a young girl that already at the age of five had inherited the throne from her father Gustavus Adolphus. At the time, the artist Elbfas was in the service of Christina’s mother, dowager queen Maria Eleonora. He was a skilled portraitist, aware of the importance of depicting the opulent attire and the objects that demonstrate the position of the child, Christina.