Imens i livet hos Nicolai Abildgaard
Hele livet1772–1777
Sergel and Füssli: a turn towards Romanticism
In the company of the Swedish sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel and the painter Johann Heinrich Füssli, Abildgaard began to move away from academic classicism and came to love Shakespeare, Homer and Ossian. Themes from Greek and Norse mythology placed him at the forefront of Nordic Romanticism.
1772–1777 · Virkested
Rome
1776
A trip to Naples with Jens Juel
From Rome Abildgaard made a side trip to Naples with Jens Juel. Juel’s portrait of Abildgaard was turned into a medallion by Abildgaard’s friend Johan Tobias Sergel.
June – December 1777
Home by way of Paris, hoping for a professorship
In June 1777 Abildgaard left Rome, hoping to become a professor at the Academy in Copenhagen. He stopped in Paris on the way and reached Denmark in December.
1777–1794
His most productive years
Besides monumental works Abildgaard produced vignettes and illustrations, to Socrates and Ossian among others, designed Old Norse costumes, and did some sculpture, etching and writing.
