The age of great power

War made Sweden a great power, and the nobility built palaces with interiors after models from France, Germany and the Netherlands.

In the seventeenth century Sweden gained large revenues from wars and conquered territories. The nobility and the Crown built palaces and manor houses and brought in craftsmen, joiners and decorative painters from the Continent. Furniture was heavy and boldly moulded, often in oak or walnut, with turned legs and high backs.

Nicodemus Tessin the Younger designed the new Royal Palace in Stockholm after the fire of 1697 and introduced the French court style. Drottningholm was built for the Queen Dowager Hedvig Eleonora from 1662, with a garden in the French style.