The Ancient Greek Utopia of C. A. Ehrensvärd’s Drawings of His Life

Abstract

The late-eighteenth-century Swedish intellectual C. A. Ehrensvärd visualised his life and relationships in drawings that often represent their modern protagonists as ideal figures from classical art. In his literary works Ehrensvärd argued that ancient Greeks had led their lives in accordance with human nature and had thereby acquired objectively true taste as displayed in their art. In the drawings discussed in this article Ehrensvärd reveals the discrepancy between his vision of the perfect, masculine, virtuous Greeks, and the allegedly corrupt, feminised Northern Europe of his own time. This conflict is often represented humorously, making use of the abundant iconographic layers of classical art, which could load an image with misogynistic, comic, or heroic overtones. These allusions were expected to be recognised and appreciated by the drawings’ intended audience, Ehrensvärd’s friends, such as the sculptor J. T. Sergel. Ehrensvärd’s view of the empirical truth of human nature, embodied in ancient art, left little room for artistic individuality and subjective choice. Yet, by appropriating the authority of the classical nude, Ehrensvärd could portray himself as an individual in defence of real human potential, as opposed to its modern travesty.