Bringing Home the Body of King Karl XII

Canvas with painting by Gustaf Cederström from 1884 depicting Karl XII's funeral. The painting shows a fictional scene where the deceased King Charles XII is carried home by his soldiers after being shot at the Battle of Halden in Norway in 1718.

Cederström wanted to make the painting as realistic as possible and therefore created a large number of sketches, carried out several outdoor studies and also hired a professional model who had to lie down on a stretcher to stage the funeral procession.

Each soldier in the painting is a carefully painted individual. Cederström depicted a mix of models, friends, colleagues and relatives. The man in the middle with a bandage on his head is Cederström's older brother and the child next to the hunter was his six-year-old daughter Carola.

The painting was completed in 1878, before the International Art Exhibition in Paris and was sold shortly afterwards to the Russian Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich. That the painting depicting the funeral of their hero, King Charles XII, was sold to Russia upset many Swedes enormously. A collection was started to be able to pay Cederström a sum to paint a replica which was later donated to the National Museum.

Artist: Gustaf Cederström | Created: 1878.

Frame not included.

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