Abildgaard

"There my name goes up in flames"
The three paintings usually hang in the Abildgaard Room at Christiansborg Palace and constitute the three surviving paintings from Nicolai Abildgaard’s gargantuan labour for the Royal castle; an endeavour which was largely lost in the first fire at Christiansborg. "There my name goes up in flames" Nicolai Abildgaard supposedly said at the sight of the burning castle one February night in 1794. Thirteen years of labour fell prey to the flames just three years after the artist put the finishing touches to his work. His contributions to the palace interior, were regarded as a mile-stone within Danish art even in their own time.