XVII century art in Sweden

1. Overview of the development of Swedish art

The art of Sweden at the beginning of the 17th century was dominated mainly under the patronage of the ruling house and was mainly represented by foreign masters: the Dutch, the French, and the Germans. In general, the Italian-French Renaissance dominates in all sectors.

A little richer and fuller than in Denmark, developed the art of the XVII century in Sweden, which appeared in its original splendor in the luxurious old edition of Dahlberg Old and New Sweden (“Suecia antiqua et moderna”), and in historical development presented in a superb new work Upmarka.

In the first third of the seventeenth century, under Gustav Adolf, Swedish art was essentially a courtier. The construction of the old, castle-like royal palace in Stockholm under the guidance of Dutch masters continued. The castle of Wabigolm, on which the Dutch master Florence Claes Becker worked from 1622 to 1625, is adorned in all the splendor of Dutch brick buildings with ashlar claddings. Already here there was a striving for the correct symmetrical arrangement of the wings. High gables curved in volutes, variously and arbitrarily crowned windows, luxurious curls and shackles on the magnificent main portal are typical of the northern “early Renaissance”.

Later, the Strasbourg native Hans Jacob Kristler appeared, who rebuilt the Gertrude church (1636–1641) to the Germans in a clearly expressed mixed style, and the Swedish commander Delagardi built the not preserved city palace of Macales and probably also the rural castle of Jacobsdal. Corinthian pilasters in the entire facade of this castle show, despite the northern middle gable, a decisive turn to a high renaissance.

A complete high renaissance was brought to the end of the thirties by the Frenchman Simon de Lavalle (died in 1642), whose best work, the project of the house of the knights, was not carried out, and the finnish soldier Nicodemus Tessin the elder (1615–1681), first in charge of building a wide-spread castle Chido for state Chancellor Oxenshtirny, and then built the church in Yedera (1641-1651). The baroque main portal Tido was executed in 1640 by the German stone carver Heinrich Blüm. The exterior of the church in Iedera resembles the church in Christianstad with its powerful stepped gables, but in all its individual forms it reveals progressive italism.

When Queen Christina abdicated the throne in 1654, the Italian-French influence was already victorious in all Swedish architecture. Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, who was in Italy, built under Charles X and Charles XI a number of rural palaces for noble and royal families that were successfully dissected in the main plan, simple in appearance or dissected by pilasters in height of the whole building, topped with high, varied roofs. In any case, with his assistance, the Stokloster, Eriksberg, Malsoker, Salstá locks arose, and the Jakobsdal castle in Ulriksdal was rebuilt. The best secular Tessina building is the palace of Queen Drottningholm (1661–1681), the general layout of which, with its spacious, now rebuilt courtyards of the outbuildings, is more interesting than the building itself, decorated only on the main joints with more or less richly framed windows. Inside, Swedish and foreign decorators competed in decorating the church in a new way, in accordance with the spirit of the time, pilasters, stucco decorations and ceiling painting. The best church building of Tessina - the Cathedral in Kalmar (since 1660), a cross between an oblong and central building, whose wide main facade with a Greek pediment between the side towers, strict Tuscan pilasters in the lower, chaste Ionic pilasters in the narrow upper floor, produce quite classic impression.

The son of the elder Tessina Nikodemus Tessin the younger (1654–1728), born in Nököping, completed Drottningholm, and then devoted himself mainly to the further construction of the royal castle in Stockholm. His projects were approved in 1692, and the new northern wing quickly grew; but in 1697, after a devastating fire, the remnants of the old burg finally had to be demolished, and the master was instructed to erect a new castle. This beautiful new building belongs to the XVIII century.

Simon de Lavalle also had a son who became his successor, Jean de Lavalle (1620–1696), one of the most influential Stockholm architects of his time. His most famous church is sv. Catherine (1656–1676) is the first real central church in Stockholm. Its basic plan, an even-numbered cross, has four small squares attached to its four outer corners; from this basic plan, a well-dissected building, topped with a high central dome, consistently develops. The vaults of the simple insides still resemble gothic. Outside reigns simple dorism. The best secular construction of this master is the “House of the Knights” in Stockholm, four facades of which, on a rectangular basic plan, are designed quite systematically. Both main floors are connected by high Corinthian pilasters carrying a clearly pronounced entablature under a high roof. Classic gables crown the middle overhangs on both long sides. Strictly sustained hanging garlands complete the decoration of the facades. In general, this is a harsh northern renaissance.

In the first half of the century, when the desire to fill the walls with many curly twisted forms dominated the decorative sculpture of Sweden, a number of foreign German carvers in stone took part, such as the mentioned Blume and Hamburg native Heinrich Wilhelm (died in 1652), whose decorative talent was expressed in the style of the cartouches of the gravestones of the Ocenstirna family of the Jedera church with all figured and ornamental additions. Baroque motif consisting of masks with hanging strips of leather ties, applied by him in the tombstone of the children of Okshanshirna who died in their youth in the church of Sts. Nicholas in Stockholm, excited interest in Sweden. But when he took on higher tasks, the underlying figures on the sarcophagus of the Jesuit Church, his artistic failure was immediately revealed.

However, the performance of tombstones in Sweden was still entrusted to the Dutch. On Banner’s tomb in the Uppsala Cathedral (1629), the Gaarel man Aris Claeson calls himself its author and sculptor. The departed spouses rest on the ceremonial bed under a canopy, carried by female caryatids in the form of germs. Peter de Keyser (born in 1596) is considered to be the author of the tombstone of one commander and his wife who died in 1637 in the Cathedral in Sklare. The couple rests here under a canopy on Doric columns, equipped with allegorical figures.

In the further development, the ceremonial bed with recumbent figures was moved to wall epitaphs, and in conclusion they began to be limited to only one wall epitaph. A sample of the luxurious and noble wall epitaph is the board of the Reichsrat Eric Fleming (d. 1679) in the church in Sorund, owned, as the inscription says, to Nikolai Millich. Perhaps the same Millich was the author of the magnificent tomb of Bielkenshtyrna in Österganning (1676–1680), with a marble, lively Baroque allegorical group. Undoubtedly, he completed the large statues of Apollo and Muses, as well as Minerva with the features of Queen Christina for the stairs at Drottningholm.

Painting was limited in Sweden in the 17th century by decorative wall or wall paintings or portraits. A portrait painter is in Sweden in 1619 and 1629. the Dutchman Jacob van Dort, known to us already in Denmark; He is represented in the Stockholm Museum only portraits of Danish kings. Of the court painters of Queen Christina, the Dutchman David Beck (died in 1656), a pupil of Van Dyck, and the famous Frenchman Sebastian Bourdon deserve mention. The first was in Stockholm between 1647–1651, the second - 1652–1654. Both are represented in the Stockholm Museum by expressive portraits of the learned queen. The only Scandinavian painter of this time known outside of his country, the painter of flowers Ottomar Elliger the Elder from Gotenburg (1633–1679) transferred his fresh, colorful art abroad. He studied with Daniel Zegers in Antwerp and died a court painter in Berlin. In Sweden, almost exclusively foreign artists acted.

However, among the decorative artists of the second half of the century are the Swedes Johann Silvius (died in 1695), whose paintings in the chapel of the Stockholm castle and in the gallery of the Drottningholm castle (1689–1690) give the impression of imitation of Lebrun. The best master of this specialty was David Klöcker (1629–1698) in Stockholm, a native of Hamburg, who developed in Holland as a portrait painter, and in Italy under Corton’s direction, as a plafond painter, in 1661 he was appointed Swedish court painter, and in 1674 received the nobility under the name Klöcker von Erenstral. His pleasant best decorative works are in the castles of Drottningholm and in Stockholm, lifeless religious works of his work - in the church of St.. Nicholas. Of his forced in postures, poorly observed portraits let us call a large portrait-group of the family of Charles XI in Gripsholm. About Ehrenstrahl and his school says August Gard. Ehrenstrahl's nephew David Kraft from Hamburg (1655-1724) was his main follower, like a portrait painter. Most of his 235 portraits listed by Gar are in Swedish castles, mainly in Gripsholm. Rigidly and dryly written, they are remarkable only by the good transmission of the poses of the “era of wigs”. But besides Ehrenstrahl and Kraft, Amsterdamian Tousen Helton acted as Dutch portrait painters in Stockholm, four paintings of which are in the Stockholm Museum, and Martin van Miitens Sr. from The Hague (1648–1736), whose son was more famous than his father. The masters who wrote and sculpted at the turn of the century in Swedish castles, naturally again were the French, Jacques Fouquet and Rene and Evrard Shovo. All these masters have some significance as pioneers of their art on untouched soil.