This book is the first complete study of the painter Nicolai Abildgaard's oeuvre. Abildgaard (1743-1809) is the only Danish artist of the 18th century to obtain a position in the European art history of the period. His works range from the Pre-Romantic sublime to Enlightenment history painting, anonymous satire and Neo-Classical allegory. 1789 radicalised his views and estranged him from his royal patrons. The imagery of his final, isolated years playfully evokes an erotic Neo-Classical Arcadia. Among his friends were the Swedish sculptor Tobias Sergel and the German sculptor Gottfried Schadow; and among his pupils were Asmus Carstens, Caspar David Friedrich, Phillipp Otto Runge and Bertel Thorvaldsen.
This book is the first complete study of the painter Nicolai Abildgaard's oeuvre. Abildgaard (1743-1809) is the only Danish artist of the 18th century to obtain a position in the European art history of the period. His works range from the Pre-Romantic sublime to Enlightenment history painting, anonymous satire and Neo-Classical allegory. 1789 radicalised his views and estranged him from his royal patrons. The imagery of his final, isolated years playfully evokes an erotic Neo-Classical Arcadia. Among his friends were the Swedish sculptor Tobias Sergel and the German sculptor Gottfried Schadow; and among his pupils were Asmus Carstens, Caspar David Friedrich, Phillipp Otto Runge and Bertel Thorvaldsen.