Christian III 1646

Curator: Looking at this somber face, what is your immediate impression? Editor: Heavy. Weighted, literally and figuratively. All that fur…he’s drowning in symbols of power and, dare I say, his own mortality. Curator: I agree. Let's unpack some of those symbols. We are looking at a print, specifically an engraving from 1646, titled "Christian III." It now resides in the Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: Right, Christian III who lived about 100 years before the print was made! And his image is framed by Latin phrases that reinforce ideas of power invested from God – “Thy will be done.” Are these standard tropes, typical ways to construct an image of monarchy? Curator: They certainly served as visual declarations, almost a shorthand for divine authority. This type of portrait, with the inscriptions and regal garb, tapped into a pre-existing iconography that the intended audience would have immediately understood. It’s all quite carefully calibrated. Even the way the face is modeled. Editor: It’s fascinating how the engraver creates tone using only lines, hatching and cross-hatching, to capture the gravitas of a king who implemented the Protestant Reformation in Denmark-Norway. It feels like an exercise in controlled visual language. No wonder these prints circulated so widely. It became part of political identity! Curator: Yes, this image would have served as a powerful tool. The choice of imagery and inscription presents a leader aligned with divine purpose, intended to evoke reverence and stability in the viewer. What the symbols transmit here continues to have a profound weight in how the subject is being publicly represented. Editor: This piece exemplifies how even seemingly straightforward portraiture is deeply intertwined with socio-political messaging. Curator: It leaves me reflecting on how powerful symbols speak through art over time. Editor: And for me, on the visual strategies art deployed for creating and circulating political power.