Danish sculpture

Danish sculpture as a nationally recognized art form can be traced back to 1752 when Jacques Saly was commissioned to execute a statue of King Frederick V of Denmark on horseback. While Bertel Thorvaldsen was undoubtedly the country's most prominent contributor, many other players have produced fine work, especially in the areas of Neoclassicism, Realism, and in Historicism, the latter resulting from growing consciousness of a national identity. More recently, Danish sculpture has been inspired by European trends, especially those from Paris, including Surrealism and Modernism.

The earliest traces of sculpture in Denmark date from the 12th century when a stonemason known as Horder was active in the east of Jutland and on the island of Funen decorating churches, especially doors and fonts. From roughly the same period, there are sculpted figures in the granite reliefs depicting the Removal from the Cross in the tympanum above the so-called Cat's Head Door of Ribe Cathedral. In the early 16th century, sculpted altarpieces and pulpits were produced by German artists such as Claus Berg working in Odense Cathedral and Hans Brüggemann who designed the unpainted altarpiece in Schleswig Cathedral. However the Reformation in 1536 brought such decorative work to an almost total stop. During the Renaissance period, sculptors from abroad were the source of work in Denmark. The Flemish sculptor Cornelis Floris from Antwerp produced tombs for Herluf Trolle and Birgitte Gøye (1566–68) in Herlufsholm and for Christian III (1569–79) in Roskilde Cathedral. Gert van Groningen was one of the leading Dutch artists to participate in the design of Kronborg's main entrance. Another Flemish sculptor active towards the end of the 16th century in Denmark was Gert van Egen who designed Frederik II's tomb in Roskilde Cathedral. Similarly, in the 17th century, it was Adriaen de Vries who designed the Neptunus Fountain for Frederiksberg Palace (1615–22) although it was later taken by the Swedes as a prize of war and now stands before Drottningholm Palace.

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