The Royal Danish CollectionRosenborgWolfgang Heimbach

Wolfgang Heimbach

The painter Wolfgang Heimbach was from Oldenburg and studied in Germany and the Low Countries. He was deaf-mute but compensated by being able to read and write several languages.

Heimbach’s art can seem naivistic and differs from the work of other artists of the time through a detailed and realistic representation. His portraits were also close to reality, and the many portraits of the society’s elite show that his honest style was appreciated. Heimbach painted Frederik III and Queen Sophie Amalie several times.

Heimbach’s most important work is his painting of the homage to Frederik III in 1660. The painting is an almost photographic report but includes symbols that underline the King’s newly won powers. Note, for instance, the sun that breaks through the clouds and shines upon the King. The artist has put himself in the foreground next to the inscription section; he waves his hat triumphantly. Heimbach left Denmark in 1667; he probably died in Oldenburg.

 

Relations

1650-1675

The wars of Charles Gustavus (1657-1658 and 1658-1660) were the important events in foreign politics of the period. The loss of Scania, Halland and Blekinge at the Peace of Roskilde in 1658 was a nadir of power politics in Danish history.

Frederik III

Frederik III was the King of Denmark-Norway from 1648; he was married to Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1643 and father to Christian V.

Sophie Amalie, 1655

Queen Sophie Amalie in peasant costume.

Frederik III, 1659

Portrait of Frederik III kneeling during the battle of Nyborg. Painted by Wolfgang Heimbach, 1659.

The homage of 1660

Paying homage to the Hereditary King in front of the Castle of Copenhagen, 18th October, 1660.

7: The Stone Corridor

The long passage connecting the two large gable rooms on the ground floor, was originally divided in two. It can be seen that the stucco of the ceiling is different at the two ends of the passage; at the northern end it dates from the time of Christian IV.  

Jacob Jensen Nordmand

The ivory turner Jacob Jensen was born in Norway and became a sailor in the Danish navy. He was then apprenticed as a blacksmith in the Low Countries and, from 1624 to 1639, he was a soldier for the Low Countries in Brazil.

Sophie Amalie

Sophie Amalie became Queen of Denmark in 1648. She was the daughter of Duke George of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and in 1643 she was married to Frederik (III). Sophie Amalie was the mother of Christian V.