Studio: international art (60.1914)

The Chateau of Rosenborg

paid to them as miniatures. Under these circum-
stances it can be no matter of surprise that some
uncertainty has existed as to both the identity of
the persons portrayed and the names of the artists.

Thanks, however, to the able and assiduous
investigations of Mr. E. F. S. Lund, of the National
Museum of Denmark, much light has now been
thrown upon this charming and fascinating subject.
Mr. Lund has embodied the results of his ex-
haustive labours in a handsome and elaborate work
which so far has only appeared in Danish) and I

“KING CHARLES I.” BY C. HORNEMAN

take this opportunity for expressing my appreciation
of the invaluable assistance he has rendered me.

Some of the most famous English painters of
miniatures are represented at Rosenborg, where
will also be found portraits of kings and queens of
England. Formerly kings, those of Denmark
amongst them, not only had their specially ap-
pointed court miniature painters (as they now have
their photographers), but they were also wont to
despatch famous miniature painters to foreign
courts for the purpose of portraying other kings
and queens. Thus King Frederick III of Denmark
sent the well-known French enamellist Prieur to
London in 1669 to paint a miniature of King
Charles II, which, as well as that of Lady Castle-
maine painted on the same occasion, is reproduced
here. The following year Prieur had to go to Poland
in order to paint the king of that ill-fated country
Altogether miniature painting must have played an
important part in international courtesies and inter-
course at the time. At Rosenborg there are also

some charming examples of the work of Prieur’s
famous contemporary Jean Petitot (born in Geneva
in the year 1607), who, like other great artists of his
time, betook himself to England, where he resided
for some time and was knighted by Charles I. He
afterwards became court painter to Louis XIV.

During the reign of Christian IV, the builder of
Rosenborg, there was much intercourse between
the Danish and English courts, Queen Anne
(consort of James I) being the sister of the
Danish king, and the year of her death, 1619, a
number of English miniatures were brought to the
Danish court. As the king wrote in his diary (this
gold-mine for research) on October 2, 1619: “One
came from England with some portraits, whom I
presented with twenty-five Rose-nobles.” King
Christian several times visited his sister in England,
on one occasion taking her entirely by surprise,
having arrived unannounced and ridden incognito
from Yarmouth to London, and as Queen Anne
shared his interest in matters appertaining to art,
the two would naturally exchange presents consist-
ing of objets d'art. On the other hand, the
painter Franz Cheyn, who had worked for King
Christian in Copenhagen, went to England, where
both he and his children, amongst them his
daughter Penelope, practised miniature painting.

Of Christian IV himself there are, naturally,
several miniatures at Rosenborg. The one repro-
duced here is by Jacob van Doort (1616), who
painted the king on divers occasions. Another

“queen anne” (enamel), by c. boit, 1705

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