A Mythic Obsession
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A Stage for the King
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£32.24
Regular price
£42.99
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A Stage for the King
The Travels of Christian IV of Denmark and the Building of Frederiksborg Castle
Sale price
£32.24
Regular price
£42.99
Out of stock
Along with Hamlets Kronborg at Elsinore, Frederiksborg is the most magnificent early seventeenth-century residence in Northern Europe, visited by thousands of people from all over the world each year. Its splendid setting on three interconnected islands and the richness of its sculptural decoration is unparalleled. However, much of the structure and interior was devastated in a fire in 1859 and the large-scale damages necessitated substantial reconstruction. While the reconstruction is reasonably faithful to the original architecture, it was exceedingly lax when it came to the more than sixty freestanding sculptures that originally adorned the castles courtyards, galleries, arches and facades. This volume recreates an idea of how Frederiksborg presented itself to its visitors in the days of Christian IV. The book further unravels the profound inspiration Christian IV drew from his sojourns to Berlin, Dresden and, especially, to England, where in the summer of 1606 he visited his brother-in-law James I at Theobalds House. This visit provided inspiration that, even while construction of his residence in Denmark was in progress, would dramatically change the overall layout and facades of Frederiksborg, thereby turning the castle into the marvel that it remains to this day. In this pioneering study, featuring more than a hundred photos and illustrations, Patrick Kragelund etches out a new and important historical and architectural dimension to this magnificent monument.
Patrick Kragelund holds doctorates in Classics from the University of Copenhagen and was director of the Danish National Art Library since 1998 until his retirement in 2016. He has published widely on Roman history, literature, drama, and epigraphy, as well as on the reception of the classics in post-Renaissance art.
- ISBN-13
- 9788763545945
- Publisher
- Museum Tusculanum Press
- Imprint
- Museum Tusculanum Press (DK)
- Publication date
- 31 December 2019
- Format
- Hardback
- Pages
- 192
- Dimensions
- 240 x 170 mm
- Illustrations
- 100 colour illus.
- Language
- English
