For centuries, Frederiksborg has been home to portraits of Danish kings and queens, and since the late 19th century, the Great Hall has been dedicated to Christian IX – known as the “Father-in-Law of Europe” – and his descendants of the Glücksburg dynasty. Here, some of Denmark’s best-known royal portraits hang side by side, painted by artists including Laurits Tuxen, Otto Bache and Preben Hornung.

On 25 September 2026, a new work will join this historic series with the unveiling of the first official painted portrait of King Frederik X since his accession to the throne. The portrait is by acclaimed Danish artist Cathrine Raben Davidsen. She is the first female artist to paint an official portrait of a Danish monarch for the Great Hall.

To mark the unveiling, a new exhibition invites visitors into the process behind the portrait.

Through photographs, drawings and painted sketches, visitors can follow the process from the first studies to the finished work. The exhibition reveals how the portrait gradually took shape and how Raben Davidsen worked with colour, atmosphere and detail to create her artistic interpretation of Denmark’s King.

The process is also captured in a new exhibition film by Anja Hauberg Kaalund, following the creation of the portrait.

About Cathrine Raben Davidsen

Cathrine Raben Davidsen (b. 1972) is one of the leading Danish artists of her generation. She graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and has also studied at art academies in Italy and the Netherlands.

Over more than 25 years, she has developed an extensive and diverse body of work spanning painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, textiles and installation. Her work is characterised by a distinctive and poetic visual language in which references to art history, literature and mythology meet explorations of nature, transformation, memory and the human existential relationship with the world.

Cathrine Raben Davidsen has exhibited extensively in Denmark and internationally and has presented major solo exhibitions at institutions including Copenhagen Contemporary, Horsens Art Museum, GL STRAND, the Rudolph Tegner Museum, CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark and Kastrupgårdsamlingen. Her retrospective exhibition Let Everything Happen to You was presented at Copenhagen Contemporary in 2024 and subsequently at Horsens Art Museum.

Her work is represented in numerous major public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Denmark, the New Carlsberg Foundation, Trapholt, Horsens Art Museum, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg and CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark. She has received numerous awards and grants and was appointed a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog in 2015.