Kristian Zahrtmann

Kingdom of Denmark

9 paintings in our database

Zahrtmann was a significant figure in Danish art both as a painter and as a teacher. Zahrtmann's most distinctive characteristic was his use of vivid, saturated colour — unusual in Danish painting of his era.

Biography

Kristian Zahrtmann (1843-1917) was a Danish history and figure painter who became an influential teacher and a distinctive voice in late-nineteenth-century Danish art, known for his vivid colour, his historical paintings of dramatic episodes from Danish and European history, and his long sojourns in Italy. Born in Ronne, Bornholm, he trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and made the first of many extended visits to Rome in the 1870s, where Mediterranean light profoundly affected his palette. His historical paintings took Danish and Scandinavian subjects — Queen Caroline Mathilde, Leonora Christina Being Examined in Prison (1885), the Stockholm Bloodbath, Students Leave to Defend Copenhagen in 1658 (1888) — and treated them with psychological intensity. His Italian subjects, like Stairway in Civita d'Antino (1889) and En sabinerinne vugger sitt barn (1877), show a lighter, plein-air freshness. He founded a private teaching school in Copenhagen that trained a significant number of younger Danish painters. His Leonora Christina is among the most emotionally powerful Danish historical paintings of the century.

Artistic Style

Zahrtmann's most distinctive characteristic was his use of vivid, saturated colour — unusual in Danish painting of his era. His palette was warm, even bold: intense ochres, reds, and blues drawn from his experience of Italian light. His historical compositions have a theatrical urgency — compressed spaces, dramatically lit figures, psychologically intense expressions — owing something to both Delacroix and the Italian masters. His Italian plein-air work is lighter and more spontaneous, showing a genuine response to Mediterranean warmth. His Leonora Christina Being Examined in Prison is among the most emotionally powerful Danish historical paintings.

Historical Significance

Zahrtmann was a significant figure in Danish art both as a painter and as a teacher. His insistence on vivid colour and emotional directness offered a counterpoint to the quieter tonal naturalism of many Danish contemporaries. His teaching school trained several important younger Danish painters, and his influence helped sustain a tradition of bold, expressive painting in Denmark into the twentieth century.

Things You Might Not Know

•Zahrtmann was one of the most influential Danish art teachers of his generation, running a private school in Copenhagen that attracted students from across Scandinavia.
•He made repeated journeys to Italy and developed a particular fascination with the story of Lucrezia Borgia, painting multiple versions of subjects drawn from her life.
•Zahrtmann was openly gay at a time when this required extraordinary courage, and he created a supportive community at his school that welcomed students regardless of conventional social norms.
•His bold, jewel-like use of color — far more intense than most of his Danish contemporaries — was influenced by Italian sun and the Byzantine mosaics he encountered in Ravenna.
•His school trained several painters who became leading figures in Danish modernism, including Vilhelm Hammershøi, who initially studied under him.

Influences & Legacy

Shaped By

Italian Renaissance — particularly the brilliant color of Venetian painting and the intensity of Byzantine mosaic that Zahrtmann encountered during his Italian travels.
Delacroix — the French Romantic's bold, expressive color and dramatic figure subjects resonated with Zahrtmann's own temperament.
P.S. Krøyer — the dominant figure of Danish painting in the period was a touchstone Zahrtmann both engaged with and reacted against.

Went On to Influence

Vilhelm Hammershøi — briefly studied under Zahrtmann and, though he moved in a very different direction, Zahrtmann's encouragement of independent thinking was important.
Danish modernism — several of Zahrtmann's students became key figures in Danish modern art, making his school one of the most productive in Danish art history.