Georg von Rosen
The history painter behind Erik XIV.
Georg von Rosen painted dramatic scenes from Swedish history, such as Erik XIV, Karin Månsdotter and Göran Persson. He was one of the leaders of the Academy.
Georg von Rosen was born in 1843 in Paris into a Swedish noble family. His father, Adolf Eugène von Rosen, was one of the pioneers behind the Swedish railways. Georg studied art in Germany and Belgium. In Antwerp he was a pupil of Hendrik Leys, who was known for his meticulous historical scenes.
Von Rosen became perhaps the foremost Swedish history painter of the later 19th century. His best-known painting is Erik XIV, Karin Månsdotter and Göran Persson (1871) in the Nationalmuseum. It shows the mentally unstable king with his beloved and his dreaded adviser. The picture became popular and has been reproduced in schoolbooks for generations. He also painted other scenes from Swedish history and mythology.
His style is meticulous and richly detailed. Clothing, weapons and furnishings are rendered with great historical care, and the figures are psychologically charged. Later in life he devoted himself largely to portraiture, and he painted many well-known Swedes.
Von Rosen became a professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts and for a time its director. When the young Opponents demanded changes to the teaching in 1885, he sided with the Academy. He died in Stockholm in 1923. By then he had seen history painting lose its standing, but his pictures have continued to shape how many Swedes imagine their country’s history.