Grundlovgivende rigsforsamling - Constantin Hansen

Carl Christian Constantin Hansen (Constantin Hansen) (3 November 1804 – 29 March 1880) was one of the painters associated with the Golden Age of Danish Painting. He was deeply interested in literature and mythology, and inspired by art historian Niels Laurits Høyen, he tried to recreate a national historical painting based on

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

. He painted also many

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

s and portraits, including the monumental oil painting ''

The Danish Constituent Assembly ''The Danish Constituent Assembly'' (Danish. ''Den Grundlovsgivende Rigsforsamling'') is a monumental oil painting by Constantin Hansen depicting the Danish Constituent Assembly's first meeting on 23 October 1848 at Christiansborg Palace in Co ...

'' (''Den grundlovgivende Rigsforsamling'') between 1861 and 1865.

Early life

He was born in Rome, the son of portrait painter Hans Hansen. The family soon relocated to Vienna, where Constanze Mozart, the widow of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, became godmother at his christening and he was named after her. Within his first year, the family moved to Copenhagen, where he was raised.

Education

He entered the architecture school of the Royal Danish Academy of Art (''Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi'') at 12 years of age, but changed his course of study to painting at the age of 21. He began his training under Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg in 1828. He lost both his parents at about this time to typhus, and became the sole supporter of his younger sisters. He took over several commissions that had belonged to his father, including some copies to the Portrait Collection at Frederiksborg Palace and decorative paintings to

Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...

Foreign study

In 1835 he received a two-year stipend to travel abroad, which was followed up by an additional year's stipend. His travels took him through Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Nuremberg and Munich on his way to Italy, where he travelled extensively and stayed longer periods in Rome, Naples and

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...

. In Italy he met fellow Dane, the sculptor

Bertel Thorvaldsen Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish and Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in ...

. He travelled with other Danish artists, including Jørgen Roed, Christen Købke and decorative painter Georg Hilker (1807–1875). The Copenhagen Art Union (''Kunstforening'') commissioned a painting from Hansen in 1837. He provided them with '' A Group of Danish Artists in Rome'', (''Et Selskab af danske Kunstnere i Rom''). In addition he painted Italian folk scenes, and studies of Roman antiquities and architecture that reflect Eckersberg's spirit. After eight years in Italy he finally returned to Denmark, staying briefly in Munich, where he studied the technique of

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

painting, in anticipation of a commission, along with Georg Hilker, to decorate the University of Copenhagen's vestibule on Frue Plads. This work continued from 1844 until 1853. Hansen painted the mythological figures, while Hilker painted the decorations and frameworks.

Marriage

He married Magdalene Barbara Købke in 1846, and they had thirteen children. However, four children died within one year after being born and one of their sons, Hans Christian, was killed at the age of nineteen in a shipwreck. In 1854 he was named professor at the Academy, but first became member of the Academy in 1864. One of his daughters, Elise Konstantin-Hansen, (1858–1946) became a recognized painter, and another

Kristiane Konstantin-Hansen Kristiane Konstantin-Hansen, also Christiane Constantin Hansen, (16 September 1848 – 13 July 1925) was a Danish weaver, textile artist and retailer who specialized in embroidery. A daughter of the celebrated painter Constantin Hansen, together w ...

(1848–1925), became a tapestry weaver.

References

Other sources