Emma Emilia Sigrid Charlotte Blomberg (1863–1941) was a Swedish sculptor who focused on

religious art Religious art is a visual representation of religious ideologies and their relationship with humans. Sacred art directly relates to religious art in the sense that its purpose is for worship and religious practices. According to one set of definit ...

. One of her most notable creations is ''Bebådelsen'' (The Annunciation, 1900), a marble statue depicting the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

on her knees in prayer, her head turned upwards. It was the first sculpture by a woman to be acquired by the

Swedish National Museum Nationalmuseum is the national gallery of fine arts of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretch far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, including the National Portrait Gallery collect ...

. After carving the wooden ''Madonna del Fuoco'' (Madonna of the Fire) in 1912, she had to abandon sculpture as a result of poor sight. Thereafter she made a living as a bookbinder.

Biography

Born on 17 October 1863 in

Fliseryd Fliseryd is a locality situated in Mönsterås Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to ...

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

, Emma Emilia Sigrid Charlotte Blomberg was the daughter of the farmer Johan Alfred Blomberg (1828–1894) and Charlotta Eleonora née Lundqvist (1829–1895). Raised with her five siblings on her father's farm, she attended the Nisbeth Girls' School in

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 41,388 inhabitants in 2020 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

. Intending to become a carpenter, in 1888 she attended the Technical School in Stockholm. Suddenly discovering the possibilities of sculpting with clay, she went on to study at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Art The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other fine arts, it is one of seve ...

from 1889 to 1898, following Axel Tallberg's etching course (1895–1896). During this period, she spent three years studying in Germany, mainly in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. In 1894, she was awarded the Academy's Hertigliga Medal for her sculpture ''Ormtjuserskan'' (Snake Charmer), subsequently purchased by

Västerås Castle Västerås Castle (''Västerås slott'') is situated at Västerås in the province of Västmanland, Sweden. History The castle was originally built during the 12th century and in 1540-1544 it was rebuilt. During the latter part of the 17th ce ...

. From 1896, she was awarded various scholarships which allowed her to continue her studies. During her final year at the Academy, she was awarded the Royal Medal for her figurines ''Kristus'' and ''Maria'' (Christ and Mary), part of a series of five she was creating for Oskarshamn Church (completed in 1899). In 1898, she used plaster to create a model for her most famous piece, ''Bebådelsen'', which was initially displayed at the Academy. The final version in marble was created in Italy under Blomberg's supervision and was acquired by the National Museum in 1900. Depicting the Virgin Mary kneeling in prayer, it was greatly appreciated by visitors to the museum and was later mass-produced in terracotta miniatures which became popular in Swedish homes. In 1900 she joined

Nya Idun ('New Idun') is a Swedish cultural association for women founded in 1885, originally as a female counterpart to ('the Idun Society'). Its aim was to "gather educated women in the Stockholm area for informal gatherings". Activity was founded ...

, a women's association. It was there she met Sigrid Leijonhufvud, whom she lived with. Thanks to the many commissions Blomberg received for producing religious works, she was able to maintain a studio in Italy between 1900 and 1912. She was commissioned to produce funerary monuments for the Östra Cemetery in Gothenburg and a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

for

Viktor Rydberg Abraham Viktor Rydberg (; 18 December 182821 September 1895) was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877–1895. "Primarily a classical idealist", Viktor Rydberg has been described as "Sweden's last Romantic" and by 1859 wa ...

's monument. In 1912, she created her last work, the wooden ''Madonna del Fuoco'' (Madonna of the Fire) inspired by the flames in her fireplace. Thereafter she earned her living as a bookbinder. Sigrid Blomberg died in

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitan ...

on 28 January 1941.

Biography

References

Further reading