Bringing Home the Body of Charles XII
Carolean soldiers carry the fallen king’s bier across the Norwegian mountains in 1718. Cederström painted a first version in 1878 and a second in 1884. The picture became one of Sweden’s best-known history paintings.
The procession moves diagonally through the snow and leads the eye towards the king – grief is shown in posture, not in faces.
Gustaf Cederström was born in 1845 and began as an army officer before choosing art. He trained in Düsseldorf and Paris and became one of the best-known Swedish history painters. He first painted Bringing Home the Body of Charles XII in 1878. A second, larger version was completed in 1884 and now belongs to the Nationalmuseum. His military background shows in his interest in soldiers, uniforms and weapons.
Charles XII was killed on 30 November 1718 during the siege of the fortress of Fredriksten near Halden in Norway. He was struck in the head by a bullet, and the circumstances of his death have been debated ever since. His body was taken back to Sweden and later buried in the Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm. The last campaign against Norway was abandoned after his death.
The painting shows Carolean soldiers carrying the king’s bier through a snow-covered mountain landscape. The bier is draped with a cloth, and the men carry it on their shoulders. Soldiers and officers walk in front and behind with bowed heads. The landscape is barren and the sky heavy and grey. In reality the body was taken from Norway to Uddevalla, and the dramatic mountain setting should be understood as an artistic device. The men look tired and frozen, and the snow lies deep around their feet.
The composition is built on a diagonal that leads the eye through the snow towards the bier. Grief is shown in postures, gait and silence rather than in dramatic gestures. The palette is muted, with white, grey and the dark uniforms. Cederström was meticulous about details such as uniforms and weapons, in keeping with the period’s demand for historical accuracy. The procession seems to emerge from the depths of the picture and carry on past the viewer.
In the 19th century a strong national cult grew up around Charles XII. He became a symbol of Sweden’s age of greatness and of heroism. Poems were written about him, and his statue in Kungsträdgården in Stockholm was erected in 1868. Cederström’s picture fitted this era. It showed not victory but loss and the end of an epoch. Somewhat later, in the 1890s, Verner von Heidenstam published The Charles Men, a collection of stories about the king and his soldiers.
The first version of 1878 immediately became famous and made Cederström one of the most admired Swedish artists of his day. The second version was then spread in countless reproductions and hung in schools and homes all over Sweden. It helped shape the image of Charles XII for several generations.
The picture has since been questioned for its glorification of the king and of war. Even so, it shows how history painting shaped a nation’s image of itself. Cederström later became a professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Bringing Home the Body of Charles XII is still one of the best-known Swedish history paintings.