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

Biography

Arenius was born in the parish of Bro in

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small un ...

, Sweden. His father was a vicar in

Upplands-Bro Upplands-Bro Municipality (''Upplands-Bro kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Kungsängen. The municipality was formed in 1952 through the amalgamation of five rural municipa ...

. 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 durin ...

, 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 Frederick I ( sv, Fredrik I; 28 April 1676 – 5 April 1751) was prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and King of Sweden from 1720 until his death and (as ''Frederick I'') also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1730. He ascended the thron ...

. 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 Germa ...

'' File:Olof Arenius-Portrait of Axel Löwen.jpg, ''Portrait of

Axel Löwen Axel Löwen (1 November 1686 – 25 July 1773) was a count and Swedish Knight of the Seraphim, Commander of the Order of the Sword and privy counsellor. Löwen was a volunteer in the Fortification Corps in 1702, got his main military education a ...

'' File:Olof Arenius - Arvid Posse (cropped).jpg, ''Portrait of

Arvid Posse Count Arvid Rutger Fredriksson Posse (15 February 1820 – 24 April 1901) was the prime minister of Sweden from 1880 to 1883. Family background and education Posse was born at Rosendal manor in Malmöhus County, as the son of Governor Count F ...

'' File:Lord Chamberlain Gustaf Jakob Horn af Rantzien, by Olof Arenius.jpg, ''Portrait of

Gustaf Jacob Horn Gustaf Jacob Horn af Rantzien (1706–1756) was a Swedish baron. He was executed for treason as one of the conspirators participating in the failed coup d'etat of queen Louisa Ulrika, the Coup of 1756 The Coup of 1756 ( sv, Kuppen 1756) was an ...

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