En Sergelbyst byter namn

Abstract

Summary In the Malmo Museum there is a marble bust signed “Sergel” and dated 1787, which was for a long time believed to represent Count Karl Rein‐hold von Fersen. In actual fact, however, the bust represents the latter's second‐cousin and brother‐in‐law, the Governor‐General of Stockholm Baron Jakob Albrekt von Lantingshausen, who had already died in Stockholm in 1769. Sergei could not have executed this bust “ad vivum” but he evidently composed it on the basis of a painted portrait and a commemorative medallion. Nor has the sculptor succeeded in getting a true likeness of Lantingshausen. Moreover, artistically speaking this work has not the merits of the better known and approximately contemporary portrait bust representing Karl Rein‐hold von Fersen's wife Charlotta Sparre. This latter bust is likewise now owned by the Malmo Museum. Both works of art were acquired from Bogesund Castle, where their having been placed side by side may well have caused the confusion of names, as also the fact that the male...