This virtuoso composition by Adraen van de Venne (1589-1662) is painted brown in yellow, a technique the artist often used both in his allegorical and in his genre paintings. [1]

The king is seen to the right seated on a throne under a canopy, on the back of which are woven the king's crowned initials (CDR for Christianus Rex Daniae). He is wearing the Danish Order of the Elephant around his neck and on his left knee the Order of the Garter. At his left foot sits his faithful dog on a cushion, and to his right there is a gauntlet and a crested helmet with open visor. To the right of the king stand two female figures, representing, according to a scroll, JUSTITIA and PRUDENTIA, and behind him to the left, his eldest son Christian (1603-1647) with his wife Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony (1617-1668), and to the right his younger son Frederik (1609-1670) and fiancée (they were married on October 18th 1643) Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneberg (1624-1685).

Winged angels are holding crowns over the heads of Prince Christian and the Princess, while between them a third angel is holding two wreaths of leaves encircling the monograms C5 and MS. Over Duke Frederik's head angels are holding a mitre with the initial F (he was prince-bishop of Bremen and Verden), and over his bride-to-be a wreath of leaves and two hearts in a rhomboid frame and a scroll inscribed DUO COR UNUM.

The king's right hand is resting on a table, on which can be seen a high-crowned hat, the crown and other regalia. In front of these is a scroll inscribed with the king's motto REGNA FIRMAT PIETAS. Behind the table is a pedestal, to the left of which one can see in the background the king's son Count Valdemar Christian (1622-1656) and his five daughters, all countesses of Schleswig. Above his head is an angel holding a crown and the initials WC in a wreath of leaves, and above the countesses heads angels with floral wreaths.

To the left of this group in the centre of the picture is PIETAS with a book, on which are the words VERITAS and RELIGIO. She is leading a younger woman, PAX, towards the king. Pax has an olive branch in her right hand, and hovering above her head is a dove with an olive branch in its beak. Between these is a third female figure LIBERTAS holding aloft a lance bearing the Cap of Liberty. Behind PAX kneels LIBERALITAS with a cornucopia, and two other young women. This triumphal procession is rounded off at the left of the picture by a number of heralds wearing coats of arms on front and back, and holding royal standards representing, from left to right, the German Emperor, Spain, Poland, France, Sweden, Venice, Great Britain, Russia and the Nederlands.

All the figures are standing on a tiled floor, on which, under the king's throne, is an oriental rug.

Floating across the sky to the left is FAMA with two trumpets, from one of which hangs a banner with the king's crowned monogram. Below her flies an angel with a scroll inscribed REGIS CUM REGIBUS CONCORDIA. In the centre of the picture, angels, one of which has a scroll bearing the words PAX UNA TRIUMPHIS INNUMERIS POTIOR, are holding aloft the king's crowned coat of arms, over which GLORIA and HONOR hold wreaths of victory. To the right of this, in front of the canopy, float two angels, one with a crown and a palm branch and the other with a crown and a scroll inscribed DEO ET SUBDITIS. Beneath these, a tumult of angels with four electoral crowns and a scroll inscribed SEMPER AUGUSTUS PIUS. Under the canopy are angels with a crowned C4, intertwined with an inscribed scroll: VIVAT CHRISTIANUS QUARTUS REX DANIAE NORVEGIAE, above, and FELIX TRIUMPHATOR below. The canopy's drapings are being held aside by an angel with a scroll inscribed VIRTUS.

The purpose of this very detailed description is to show that here is a picture with a meticulously staged iconography, a classical theatre scene, in which only the allegorical figures represent movement and action whilst the historical figures assume statuary roles. The picture is markedly different from all other paintings in van de Venne's oevre. Although he frequently concerned himself with painting historical scenes, these had more the character of everyday events, such as "Prince Moritz and Prince Friedrich Heinrich at the horse market in Valkenburg", or "Frederik V and Elisabeth Stuart with retinue on their way Home from Hunting". [2] Exceptions to this are a painting, also brown in yellow, depicting an Allegory over Prince Friedrich Heinrich's Viceregency [3], and even more so, a sketch for an engraving of D. van Bremden, dated 1629, which was a tribute to Friedrich Heinrich after the conquest of 's Hertogenbosch. [4] Here the Prince, crowned by Victoria, is seen sitting in a triumphal chariot driven by Fides and surrounded by figures such as Fides and Libertas, whilst Tirannis and Idolatris are crushed beneath horses' hooves and chariot wheels. The engraving is not today part of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts' Department of Prints and Drawings Collection [5], but one could imagine that it was known in Copenhagen at that time, and that it was an added reason for the king to commission of van de Venne for his triumphal painting. The painter's large allegory Fishing for Souls, from 1614, was probably not exhibited in Denmark, but it was undoubtedly reported that Christian IV had played a distinctive role among the non-Catholic princes on the left bank of the sea of souls.

A letter in the Danish National Archives, dated 29th December 1648, from King Frederik III to his agent Gabriel Marselis (1609-1673) in Amsterdam appears to establish that the painting was a commission. The king writes: In the year 1643 before the war troubles in Holstein, a famous painter in the Hague, van de Venne, remitted by order of the late king two paintings. Due to the unpropitiousness of the times these were never paid for, in spite of a letter last year instructing that attempts be made to reach agreement with the painter on their acquisition for 300 rix dollars. The king requests Marselis to repeat the offer and to acquire them on his behalf if the painter agrees. [6]

The war that the king refers to so euphemistically must be the Swedish War, so disastrous for Denmark, which began with Torstensson's attack on December 12th 1643 and ended with the Peace of Brømsebro in 1645. Christian IV was busily occupied during that period, so it is not remarkable that he never got around to paying the painter. His attempt in 1647 to push the price down is not surprising, since the subject had lost its topical interest. Van de Venne appears to have accepted Frederik III's offer, probably very sensibly. In the first place the paintings were already in Denmark [7], and in the second, he could hardly expect a better offer; he would more likely risk having them returned without further ado.

This was not the first time the king had experienced art in the service of self-glorification. As a six-year-old in the 1580s he appeared at his father's side as the last in the series of a total of 117 Danish kings, which his father had commissioned from the Dutchman Hans Knieper. The series, which consisted of forty tapestries, was woven in 1582-84 in Elsinore for the Long Hall at Kronborg Castle. They must have made an indelible impression on the young heir to the throne and filled him with pride in himself, his lineage and his country's history. In 1613, after emerging victorious from the Kalmar War, he commissioned a series of tapestries from Karel van Mander II, the cartoons of which were created in 1616-19. Fourteen of the former series are preserved to the present day, but the latter series has disappeared.

The king had his coronation in 1596 immortalized in two engravings, both anonymous. One of these shows simultaneously the crowning ceremony in Copenhagen's Cathedral and the procession from the church to the palace; the other shows the cavalcade at the celebration's tilting at the ring. [8] Both engravings had texts in German. Another engraving, also anonymous, shows the great pageant in 1603 when Hamburg paid tribute to the king and Duke Johan Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp. On this occasion Christian IV appeared in the role of the Sun King. [9]

The next time the king took art in the service of history was in connection with the wedding of his eldest son Prince Christian to Magdalene Sybille of Saxony in 1634. From this event there is an engraving showing the royal pageant in which the king is seen in the role of Scipio Africanus and the bridegroom as Scipio Asiaticus. It is signed "Christophorus Swenckius inventor. Crispin de pas delin(eat)". [10] In 1635 the king had his engraver reproduce a scene from the previous year, namely, the giving of an accolade, which also took place at the wedding. The engraving shows King Christian seated on a throne under a canopy on the right hand side of the picture. The highest statesman of the realm is bearing the royal regalia, and before the king kneels the nobleman about to be knighted. The rest of the picture is filled with members of the court. The text, which describes the giving of the accolade, is in German and Latin, since the print was intended for distribution in Europe.

The next giant step on this ambitious road took place in 1637, when the king commissioned 84 drawings from the aforementioned Simon de Pas which, in the king's own words, were to illustrate "Unser Vorfahren, der alten Könige von Dännemarck tapfere und heroische Thaten..." [12] The commission was for 80 historical pictures, an equestrian portrait of the king, a map of Denmark, the royal arms and a title page. In other words, a publication of national history was being planned, from Antiquity, as described in Saxo's Gesta Danorum from c. 1200, to the present. The king directed de Pas to find the best qualified artists in the Nederlands for the task, and the engraver duly set out for his native Utrecht, where he called in painters like Abraham Bloemaert, Gerrit van Honthorst, Jan van Bijlert, Nicolaus Knüpfer, Simon Peter Tilemann and Adam Willaerts, as well as from outside the Utrecht circle Palamedes Palamedesz for the project. In the event, however, his own brother, Crispin de Pas, drew the lion's share of the pictures. In 1639 all the drawings were apparently completed and the task of engraving could begin.

The same year Christian IV made up his mind to have part of the historical series painted for ceiling decoration in the Long Hall at Kronborg Castle, where the walls were already embellished with his father's tapestries of kings. De Pas was once again sent to Holland where he engaged Honthorst, Tilemann and Knüpfer, and in Amsterdam, Isaac Isaacz, Claes Moeyaert, Salomon Koninck and Adriaen van Nieulandt. From this impressive initiative about half of the drawings, none of the engravings and 15 paintings are preserved today.

One of the historical scenes - like the accolade print - has certain similarities in composition to the van de Venne picture. In it we also see a throned king under a canopy surrounded by a number of figures. A figure is kneeling before the king, presenting him with a crown. According to the inscription, the scene depicts: "König Frode zu dännemarck", who had conquered great areas of Germany to the north and east to the Baltic, and had at some time received tribute and oaths of fealty from 20 kings. Frode Fredegod was a legendary Danish king to whom Christian IV could well have compared himself. Both kings acceded to the throne as children and both improved the situation of their country. The drawing is signed "G. Honthorst fecit", and Honthorst's painting, which is among those preserved, is today at Kronborg. [13]

It is thus possible to indicate a number of factors at Christian IV's court that created a climate for the van de Venne commission. It was normal practice for the king to commission paintings in the Nederlands; commissions for non-historical pictures abounded. It was also innate for him to initiate extensive ornamentation projects designed to bring his own and his country's honour into increased prominence. To use current terminology, he implemented an exceptionally active cultural policy.

In the light of this, it is perhaps easier to understand the meticulous setting of van de Venne's painting, and it must be considered more than likely that together with the commission the king forwarded a detailed description of what he wished from van de Venne. There is no evidence that the painter ever visited Denmark, but nevertheless the portrait likeness to the then existing royal family is considerable. The king's portrait is almost identical to those from the 1630s by court painter Karel van Mander III (c. 1609-1670). [14] The most obvious explanation of this would be that a number of van Mander drawings were sent to van de Venne. Similarly, it can be imagined that the iconography was prepared in Copenhagen, perhaps by the internationally famed scholar Ole Worm (1588-1654), who had determined each of the themes in the national historical series. [15]

The above mentioned letter from Frederik III to Gabriel Marselis would appear to establish that the painting showing Christian IV as mediator between the rulers and countries of Europe was commissioned from van de Venne and delivered by him some time before December 1643. [16] In the field of Danish historical research it has traditionally served as documentation that in the closing years of his life the king had begun to lose his sense of reality and was living in a fantasy overestimation of his own political importance. It is a question, however, whether this evaluation is correct, or whether it is an after-rationalisation in the light of the disastrous war with Sweden in 1643-1645. It would be more correct to examine how the situation looked to the king in 1642, the year the painting must have been conceived in Copenhagen and commissioned from the painter in The Hague.

To examine this we must return to the situation after the peace treaty at Lübeck in 1629. There is general agreement among historians that as regards the peace terms, the king got off surprisingly lightly after his interference in the Thirty Years' War. But it was a defeat, nonetheless, and for the domestic political resistance that he was constantly up against from his Rigsråd, it was grist to their mill.

But Christian did not give up. He assumed a different role in the game of foreign politics - that of mediator. A wise disposition. If one cannot succeed as commander in the field, one can always gain influence by making peace. Either role leads to a seat at the negotiating table. And Denmark did indeed expend an impressive amount of energy in this area in the 1630s. Envoys were sent to all corners of the earth supplied with detailed instructions, meticulously drafted by the king himself. [17]

The Danish political aims were the following: to prevent Sweden from extending her growing position of power; to maintain supremacy of the Baltic and the free right to exact the Sound Toll; to ensure the right to exact toll from traffic on the Elbe and to force Hamburg into subjection, and finally, to achieve for his next eldest son, Duke Frederik, the right to the secularized See of Bremen. The king maintained these aims throughout the entire period with an astonishing agressiveness that was apparently accepted by contemporary times, and which the wisdom of posterity has pronounced naive.

There were two principal axes in the alliances throughout this period: on one side Lutheran Sweden and Catholic France, and on the other the Holy Roman Empire and Lutheran Denmark-Norway. Around these the other powers, great as well as small, changed sides almost unceasingly, depending on the fortunes of war or the prospect of diplomatic advantage. Basically, one can only admire Christian IV for his perseverence. Throughout the whole decade, no matter what took place, he stood ready with his offer of mediation.

The year 1641 saw a turn of events that would turn out to bear fruit. On 20th June, France and Sweden signed a renewal of the reciprocal treaty that was to remain in force until peace was declared. The treaty stipulated that Münster and Osnabrück were to be the venue for the peace conference, and this was acceptable to the Emperor. [18] After lively negotiations in Hamburg on Christian IV's initiative, the peace preliminaries were signed on 15th December 1641. The conference was to open the following year in Münster and Osnabrück, and the parties concerned accepted the Danish king as mediator.

As the historian J.A.Fridericia puts it:"In spite of a number of setbacks, the end of the year 1641 saw Christian IV as the one who by his persistent efforts had nevertheless completed his first task as mediator. He could now continue to expect to influence the detailed negotiations that were about to begin, and in so doing possibly avert outcomes that might be detrimental to the interests of his country." [19] That the whole structure was flimsy and tenuous was evident only from the instructions that the diplomats of the various countries were equipped with. But the matter was in motion, even though the time plan had been delayed right from the start.

The first Danish ambassador, Christopher von der Lippe, arrived on 10th July 1643, and on 26th August the same year [20] the rest of the Danish delegation, consisting of Chancellor Just Høg, Rigsråd Gregers Krabbe and Dean Lorenz Langermann arrived in Osnabrück with a magnificent display of pomp and splendour. They had a retinue of 103 persons, not counting the accompanying noblemen, pages and halberdiers; they rode in coaches upholstered in velvet, their rooms were decorated with wall coverings of Nederlandish silk, their tables were laid with gold brocade tablecloths and their table canopies were of the same material. The imperial ambassadors, who reported on this to the Emperor, also noted, however, that most of the effects had not been purchased for the occasion but were part of the royal household. [21] Both ostentation and reuse were characteristic of Christian IV.

But in spite of the gibes of the day and whatever posterity might find to criticize, this was unquestionably a great diplomatic triumph. And it was this Christian IV was demonstrating by having his ambassadors appear at the conference with such great circumstance, and it was first and foremost this he wished to preserve for posterity by his commission to van de Venne.

Now, it has now not been possible to discover when the painting was planned and commissioned. 1642 is probably the most likely, considering that there were many things to think through and much to be worked out before it was done. But the king could in fact -until December 1643 - have good reason to view the years 1642-43 as the zenith of his whole foreign policy in the past decade. He had reached a peaceful settlement with Poland regarding supremacy in the Baltic; he had come to an agreement with the Nederlands on tariffs for the Sound Toll, and he had introduced a tariff on Sweden which, in spite of much grumbling and grousing in Stockholm, was nevertheless valid. On the Elbe, too, he could triumph. With sword in hand he had forced Hamburg into subjection in the spring of 1643, putting an old enemy out of the running without the other powers interfereing. In Bremen, his son Duke Frederik was maintaining his position after a rapprochement between the king and the Emperor. In the 1630s Christian IV had tried several times to talk Sweden into a marriage between the Duke and Queen Christina, albeit without success. In 1643 the Duke married a daughter of Duke Georg of Brunswick-Lüneburg, hitherto a somewhat doubtful ally in spite of his being a member of the niedersachsische Kreis - as was Christian in his capacity of Duke of Holstein.

Christian IV had one more political game going, namely, plans for a marriage between his son Count Valdemar Christian and Irina, daughter of Czar Michael of Russia. The affair is mentioned in the historical literature without any particular significance being attached to it [22], but the question is whether it was not precisely this which led to the Swedish attack on Denmark in December 1643. [23] As in all previous marriage plans between Russia and Denmark, the initiative was the Czar's. As a rule, they were put forward whenever the Czar felt powerful enough to challenge Sweden. The first feelers came in 1640 and rumours of it were already beginning to circulate in 1641. In the same year Valdemar Christian went in Moscow so that the two parties could size each other up. In the summer of 1642 a Russian ambassador arrived in Copenhagen with a marriage proposal, which Christian, however, turned down. The Russians came back with a new proposal early in 1643, but this too was rejected by the king. Negotiations continued and resulted in the Czar's signed acceptance, dated 9th July 1643, although the king appears to have been so confident of the outcome that preparations were already under way from early spring. The Count and his retinue duly left on 23rd October. On the way they were very well received in Poland and on 21st January 1644 they arrived in Moscow. Simultaneously a Swedish envoy to the Czar arrived with the news of about what had happened in Denmark in the meantime.

There can be no doubt that the Swedes had been monitoring developments with the gravest concern [24], which is hardly surprising. Wedged between Denmark-Norway on one side and Poland-Russia on the other, Sweden was obliged to act. On 12th December 1643, as already mentioned, Torstensson and his troops crossed the border into Holstein, to King Christian's surprise and great indignation. He had relied on there being time enough as long as there was no prior declaration of war from the Swedes.

Thus the year 1643 marks both the pinnacle of Christian IV's long life and at the same time his deepest fall. He had attempted too much at the same time and it had all gone wrong. His ambassadors in Münster and Osnabrück had to pack up all their magnificence and quietly go home. The king himself fought bravely but in vain, and two years later he was forced to sign the humiliating Peace of Brømsebro.

Van de Venne's picture, which was to have told posterity of the king's great triumph, was subsequently bought by his son - out of duty and at a reduced price. It became a historical document written by a loser, and was therefore ignored. It is a well known fact that only the victorious make history.

FOOTNOTES