Queen Christina as Minerva

Artist/Maker

DatesMade: Executed 1654

Material / Technique

Dimensionsh x w: Mått 114 x 87,5 cm h x w x d: Ram 119 x 93 x 4,5 cm

Inventory numberNMGrh 1853

AcqusitionGift of Herman Wrangel

Other titlesTitle (sv): Kristina (1626–1689), drottning av Sverige, som Minerva Title (en): Queen Christina as Minerva

DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 73: Technical notes: The support consists of a single piece of closely woven plain-weave fabric with some coarser threads. The painting has been trimmed on each side along the current stretcher edges. The painting has been lined and mounted on a non-original stretcher. It was prepared with a whiteish ground that has been applied thickly and evenly and which is covered by a semi-transparent brownish imprimatura. The preparatory layers cover the texture of the fabric completely. The paint layer is opaque and thickly applied. The subject is reserved against the background. The painting is simply executed and in the hands and face there are no modulation of the pigments on the greyish underpainting. Paint is applied in impasto in details of the armour and the white shirt. The pleats in the red drapery and the skirt are rendered without inflection. The sky has been executed in clear, lifeless brushstrokes. The foliage in the background of the painting has been painted over the sky. The palette consists of red, white, blue and earth colours. The painting technique in this work is less refined and more lifeless than in the work with a similar motif by Egmont in the Gripsholm collection (no. 72). A number of details have also been omitted and the rendering of the folds of fabric is simpler than in no. 72. Lining has also led to flattening of the paint layer. The foreground and background have been retouched. A few retouches to the face are visible, while the garments and armour remain intact. The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1964, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991. Provenance: The Dohna family of Stjernsund at Askersund; P. L. Öhrman, Askersund; Öhrmans estate, Stockholm; 1964 Brigitta Löwgren, Stockholm. Exhibited: Stockholm 1966, no. 547; Stockholm 1989; Kalmar 1989; Åbo 1990; Skaraborg 1991; Åmål 1993; Osnabrück 1997, cat. no. 20, p. 44; Läckö 1999b; Läckö 2001; Stockholm 2008. Bibliography: Burenstam 1891, pp. 13, 43; Steneberg 1928, p. 33; Strömbom 1943, p. 232; Cat. Gripsholm, I, Stockholm 1951, 245, no. 1853; Granberg 1912; Göthe 1912. This portrait is similar in type to no. 72 and represents Queen Christina as Minerva. For a description of the type of portrait and its significance in the iconography of Christina see no 72. This portrait is, however, stylistically and technically simpler in execution than Grh 3989, which suggests that it was mainly a studio production by one of Van Egmont’s assistants. The lack of modulation of the palette in the face and hands, the lifeless execution of the folds of draped fabric and the skirt as well as the simple, uninflected brushstrokes used for the sky testify to this. In these respects this painting differs from the greater modulation and detail in the execution of Van Egmont’s Minerva portrait numbered Grh 3989. This portrait by Van Egmont which formerly belonged to the Dohna family at Stjernsund outside Askersund was a gift from Queen Christina to Christopher Delficus Dohna, the Queen’s escort on her journey from Stockholm to Hamburg after her abdication in 1654. Inscription (below on the pedestal): “christi(na) re(g)in su(e…)e”; (on reverse): “Förr. 306” [Formerly 306] (incorrect numbering) KS [End]

Exhibited

Depicted Person

Collection

MaterialOil paint

TechniquePainting

Object category