Lensgreve C.E. Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs 1863

Editor: Here we have a marble sculpture titled "Lensgreve C.E. Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs," created in 1863 by H.W. Bissen, currently residing at the SMK. The detail in the beard is remarkable. What strikes you about it? Curator: I see a potent representation of power constructed through the laborious process of carving marble. Notice how Bissen employed different levels of finish – a polished face against the rougher texture of the drapery. This contrast underscores the subject's refined status against the raw materials that constitute his image, pointing to the complex dance between aristocratic identity and the manual labor that creates its symbols. Editor: So, you're saying the materiality itself communicates status? Curator: Precisely. Consider the context: marble, sourced, transported, then sculpted. Each step involves human labor, each decision reflects social power. The smoothness implies ease and wealth; but consider what the making-of reveals: unseen labor is required for this smooth façade. And it’s a male depiction, in this way perpetuating social systems of class, status, wealth and labor and masking it as timeless artistic truth. Do you think the choice of neoclassical style reinforces or challenges the social hierarchy of the time? Editor: I suppose it reinforces it by drawing on established visual tropes of authority. It’s interesting to think about how even an artwork intended to celebrate someone is actually enmeshed in systems of production and societal power structures. Curator: Absolutely. Recognizing the art piece in its own mode of creation, as product and symbol, changes our understanding. What seemed like a simple portrayal, in fact is actively confirming certain class structures. Editor: Thinking about the piece in this way has changed how I see such portraits. Thanks for highlighting the social context embedded in the work.