Nationalmuseum och dess fasadskulpturer

Abstract

Summary The national art gallery in Stockholm, the National Museum, was designed by the German architect August Stuler and erected during 1850–1866. But before he obtained the commission several Swedish architects had been working on the project, among them F. W. Scholander. By him exist three different drawings from 1843 to 1847, the last of which (fig. 1) has to a marked degree influenced Stuler in his design of the building (fig. 2), as is shown here. Also the program for the facade decoration was originally formed by Scholander. It bears the stamp of a national feeling and illustrates through the choice of sculpture the period's conception of its culture and of the Swedish history of art. The sculptures were executed after models by C. G. Qvarnstrom and J. P. Molin. The statue of N. Tessin the younger (fig. 5–7) was made by Molin while the statue of Sergei (fig. 8) is by Qvarnstrom, who also made the models for the medallions with personifications of the Fine Arts. The attributes symbolizing Painting ...