Olof Arenius (16 December 1701 – 5 May 1766) was a Swedish portrait painter.

Biography

Arenius was born in the parish of Bro in Uppland, Sweden. His father was a vicar in Upplands-Bro. After a period of theology studies at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

, he studied art under David von Krafft (1655–1724). In 1729, he went to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

where he was exposed to the art of portrait painters Godfried Kneller (1646–1723) and Mikael Dahl (1659–1743). Returning to Sweden in 1736, he was named court painter by King Frederick I of Sweden. He died at Stockholm in 1766. His portraits and miniatures in oil are much esteemed, and are to be found in all the public galleries, as well as in the best private collections, in Sweden. Many of them have been engraved.

Gallery

File:Olof Arenius-portrait of Augustin Ehrensvärd.jpg, ''Portrait of Augustin Ehrensvärd'' File:Anders-Celsius.jpeg, ''Portrait of

Anders Celsius Anders Celsius (; 27 November 170125 April 1744) was a Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories in Germ ...

'' File:Olof Arenius-Portrait of Axel Löwen.jpg, ''Portrait of Axel Löwen'' File:Olof Arenius - Arvid Posse (cropped).jpg, ''Portrait of Arvid Posse'' File:Lord Chamberlain Gustaf Jakob Horn af Rantzien, by Olof Arenius.jpg, ''Portrait of Gustaf Jacob Horn''

References

Attribution: * 1701 births 1766 deaths People from Uppland Uppsala University alumni 18th-century Swedish painters 18th-century Swedish male artists Swedish male painters Portrait miniaturists {{Sweden-painter-stub