The Gustavian era
Gustav III wanted to bring Sweden into the heart of Europe. The Gustavian style made antiquity light and austere, from Haga to parish churches and manor houses.
The king had seen Paris and travelled in Italy in 1783–1784. His museum of antiquities in Stockholm Palace opened in 1794 and is among the earliest public art museums in Europe. The Exchange on Stortorget, designed by Erik Palmstedt, gave the burghers’ trade a classical façade in the middle of the Old Town.
At Haga an English landscape park was laid out with pavilions and tents. Olof Tempelman designed Gustav III’s Pavilion there, with interiors by Louis Masreliez, and Louis Jean Desprez designed the Linneanum in Uppsala with a severe Doric portico.