Skip to content

Frederiksborg for

About Frederiksborg

Frederiksborg

Frederiksborg Slot 10

3400 Hillerød

Phone: +4548260439

Phone hours: Weekdays, 9 am–12 pm

[email protected]

Open today: 10–17
02/09/24 - 07/03/28

Gods Recreated

Special exhibition showcases the striking facade sculptures of Frederiksborg Castle and the extensive restoration effort currently underway.

On the approach to magnificent Frederiksborg Castle, visitors pass by a multitude of sculptural figures from Greco-Roman mythology: The impressive Neptune Fountain rises up in the Outer Courtyard; the gods of antiquity stand in niches along the wall above the moat; and in the Inner Courtyard, 19 gods form three ornate rows in the “Marble Gallery” above the museum entrance.

The Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces has been working since 2017 to recreate how these figures appeared in the time of King Christian IV. The completed sculptures are expected to be installed on the museum’s facade in 2028. The first completed sculpture in the restoration effort, which depicts Saturn devouring his son, will be presented to the public for the first time in the exhibition.

The special exhibition marks this extensive restoration by conveying the history of the Marble Gallery from its original making through restorations over the centuries. Visitors can see the original sculptures from the 1600s alongside earlier restorations, and learn more about how a sculpture is made. The exhibition also highlights how today’s sculptors are working to recreate the original figures.

Christian 4. lod Marmorgalleriet – det imponerende skulpturensemble – opstille i 1600-tallets begyndelse, en periode hvor antikken var højeste mode i Europa. Skulpturerne blev hugget hos tidens mest berømte nederlandske billedhugger Hendrick de Keyser (1565-1621). Christian 4. ønskede med Marmorgalleriet at indskrive sig selv og Frederiksborg Slot i en større europæisk antik-dyrkende kultur og knytte an til den magt og evighed, som antikkens guder repræsenterede.

Udstillingen foldes ud over slottets stueplan og Christian 4.s gamle vinkælder, der til anledningen indrettes til udstillingslokale.

Christian IV commissioned the Marble Gallery’s impressive ensemble in the early 1600s – a period when antiquity was the height of fashion in Europe. The sculptures were made by the most famous sculptor of the day, Hendrick de Keyser (1565-1621) of the Netherlands. Christian IV envisioned the Marble Gallery and Frederiksborg Castle as part of a larger European cultural movement of paying homage to antiquity, while also establishing a link to the power and eternity represented by the gods of ancient Greece and Rome.

See also