Landing at Copenhagen

July 5, 2018 - In 1819 Bertel Thorvaldsen was at the height of his fame. The Danish born artist and sculptor had lived his early years in Italy and he greatly admired neoclassical Greek and Roman art. He grew rich making Europe’s rulers look like Greek or Roman Heroes.

In 1807, the British shelled Denmark. I do not know why. Perhaps it was a soccer game that they lost on penalty kicks. What ever the reason, The Cathedral of Our Lady (shown below) was destroyed. This was the state church, where the King was crowned, and where the country converted to Lutheranism. Thorvaldsen was called to help rebuild.

What you see above is the result. It looks far more like a pagan temple than a Christian

church. The 12 apostles are each arrayed like Roman senators and the line the nave in a study of classical serenity. Although they are marble , Thorvaldsen did not hammer them out. He left that to assistants. Rather, like Rodin, Canova, and Vigeland he would create the casts from which the statue was made. The result are the masterpieces you see here.

Christ, instead of Zeus is at the alter. He is not featured in Greek robes but rather his burial shrouds.

Mormons would well recognize this statue. An exact copy can be found at the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City and is featured in many of their publications.

Here are some more views as we sailed into Copenhagen

We sailed under the Orsund Bridge - An engineering marvel that connects Denmark to Sweden across the Baltic Sea. Part of the journey is under water as you can see in the arial view below

An arial view of the Orsund Bridge from Wikipedia

Sailing through the Swedish Archipelago -

Copenhagen

A national treasure and yes, they are MUCH better than anything we have in the U.S.

The home of LEGO - the largest toy company in the world. This is their most expensive set. It has thousands of pieces and costs around a thousand dollars!