| Abstrakt: |
The relationship between Queen Josephina of Sweden-Norway (1807-76) and the painter Sophie Adlersparre (1808-62) is an example of harmonious symbiosis, in which the patroness obtains her desired copies and portraits, and the artist, in exchange, is provided with a material basis for her existence. Not many women artists have had the advantage of such abiding support, which for 20 years gave regular commissions for new works of art, thereby contributing considerably to Sophie Adlersparre's professional identity. The Swedish Royal family was an important patron of the Arts, but, naturally, as far as oil-paintings were concerned, the most common objects in demand were portraits. The greater part of these were copies, whose main function was that of establishing and reinforcing loyalty among military and local authorities, as well as among private individuals. Royal gifts such as these provided a unifying symbol for the country. Sophie Adlersparre's portraits of King Oscar I (Josephina's consort) served as such. Her portraits of the queen, however, do not appear in the official accounts, which indicates that they were paid for by the money assigned for personal use. This means that Josephina, in engaging Sophie Adlersparre as her portraitist, to a certain extent made a choice of her own. The queen had a habit of surrounding herself with family portraits, and has pronounced her conviction that portraits formed a substitute for her beloved ones. This intimate function of portraiture ran parallel with its use as a symbol of a social and political system. One of Queen Josephina's most extensive projects as a patroness of Art, was the idea of turning the State-Hall of Drottningholm Palace into a picture-gallery of contemporary sovereigns. In her own account of the events leading to the creation of this gallery, the queen mentions the 18th century gallery at the castle of Gripsholm as the source of inspiration. Being a royal family of quite recent access to the throne.-King Oscar's father was the first king of the Bernadotte family-such a visual manifestation might be seen both as a means, and manifest proof, of their establishment among royal houses. The queen ordered full-figure portraits of her consort's colleagues around Europe. Among these was the Pope, Pius IX, whose portrait was painted by Sophie Adlersparre in Rome in 1855. Being a Catholic queen in a Lutheran country, Josephina had a special position, and her recommendation to the Pope is bound to be the crucial motivation for allowing the Swedish artist, though a woman, to portray the Holy Father. Sophie Adlersparre herself was, throughout her life, deeply religious, and in constant search of a purpose in life. She was born a Lutheran, turned to the nonconformist movements in Stockholm in the 1840s, and, finally, became a Catholic during her stay in Italy, in 1854. Her religiosity was deeply linked to her view of Art in general. She considered Art a means of turning Man's mind to God as well as increasing his aesthetic refinement.… [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
