Pehr Hörberg (January 31, 1746, in Virestad parish in Småland, Sweden – January 24, 1816, in Risinge in Östergötland, Sweden) was a Swedish artist, painter and musician. In 1769 he married the maid Maria Eriksdotter and they had three sons.
Biography Pehr Hörberg's birthplace Virestad is a small town and a village in Älmhult Municipality in Kronoberg County, in Småland, Sweden. It was formerly the central area of the old Virestad parish. The church in Virestad was built of stone 1799–1800 on the site of a former medieval church. Some of its treasures include a pulpit from the 1600s and an altarpiece by Pehr Hörberg. He died in Falla in Hällestad Bergslag, where he owned 1/4 of the homestead, and part of the village Olstorp, in Risinge parish, where he also owned 1/4 of the homestead. Both the fourth in Falla in Hällestad and the fourth in Olstorp in Risinge were mining districts estates, located in Finspång Municipality in Östergötland County. Hörberg got his "huts in an aiding position", so to his own satisfaction that he 25 years later wrote about Olstorp and the farm in Falla, that he had later acquired, that the estates were very important for him.Information about Olstorp in Risinge parish (Swedish)
Early tasks, education, marriage and family Pehr Hörberg grew up in a poverty-sticken soldier crofter's holding Övra Ön and began to craft- and tapestry artist in Småland. Then he started as a professional painter in the rural areas in the Swedish countryside and then he became a county painter in Småland.
He early showed a passion for painting. His works, which he brought forth with primitive colors and materials, caused a sensation and wonder in the district. After a few summers as a shepherd boy, he was apprenticed to a decorative painter in Växjö. He completed his apprentice training and served as crafts- and church painter in the area of Sävsjö and Eksjö.
In 1769 he married the maid Maria Eriksdotter and together they had three sons. The family lived in poverty in a cottage, but later the family had access to crofting. In 1783 a long-awaited dream for him came true. He came to Stockholm and studied for three periods during the years 1783–1787 at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm.
Study at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm Finally, at the age of 37 years, he got the opportunity to study at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts (Konstakademien) in Stockholm, on and off, between the years 1783–1786 for the famous Swedish painter Carl Gustaf Pilo (1711–1793), a Swedish-born artist and painter. Carl Gustaf Pilo was named Director of the Swedish Academy in 1777, but first took office in 1780 when he also received an apartment in Stockholm as part of his directorship at the Academy. Carl Gustaf Pilo lived out his days at the academy, both engaged in the academy's business and in painting his masterpiece, the painting of which he worked on until the very end of his life.The Coronation of Gustaf III in Storkyrkan, Stockholm. Carl Gustaf Pilo’s painting in Nationalmuseum. (Swedish)Carl Gustaf Pilo in Konstnärslexikonett Amanda (Swedish)
He copied paintings from old masters for the purposes of studying the paintings and the antique plaster sculptures which made a deep impression on him, such as the statue of Laocoön and His Sons (50 B.C.) (Swedish: ), at that time it was in the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm, and Rembrandt's The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis or Bataverna's allegiance (Swedish: Batavernas trohetsed (1662)). Rembrandt's oil painting The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis has been in the ownership of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts since 1798 and it has been deposited in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm since 1864.
So, when Pehr Hörberg studied these works of art, the statue Laocoön and His Sons and Rembrandt's oil painting The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis, he could see them in his own art school, the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, (Konstakademien) in Stockholm, where he studied between the years 1783–1786.
The story about the ancient statue Laocoön and His Sons at Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm.A cast (copy) of the ancient statue Laocoön and His Sons, which the Swedish King Gustav III brought to Sweden in late 18th century, is also on display at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm. So, when Pehr Hörberg studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts (Konstakademien) in Stockholm, the copy of the statue Laocoön and His Sons was already there, from late 18th century, and there it is still today. In Nationalmuseum in Stockholm there is another copy, a plaster cast of the statue Laocoön and His Sons (Laokoongruppen) Copy of the ancient statue Laokoön and His Sons from 50 BC.
The story about Rembrandt's oil painting The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis in Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.The interesting story about Rembrandt's oil painting The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis:
Rembrandt painted The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis around 1660 and the intention was that it would adorn a wall in Amsterdam City Hall. But, it seemed outdated and it did not please the clients and then it was taken down in 1662. After that, the middle part of this giant painting was taken out, and was brought to Sweden by the Dutch family Peille. Thus it was acquired by Stockholm merchant Henrik Wilhelm Peill through his marriage to Sophia Grill, who was a sole daughter of the wealthy Claës Grill, a director of the Swedish East India. Probably on the advice of artist friends, Henrik Wilhelm Peill deposited the painting at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, where it ca be seen hanging on the wall in the background of a painting by Elias Martin of the visit of King Gustav III in 1782. Eventually it was donated by the family Peille to the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts (Konstakademien) in Stockholm. Furtheron the Academy of Arts deposited the oil painting in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. Even in its present state (cut down) the painting shines with beauty. It is constituted one of Sweden's most precious art treasures.
In 1780 the Swedish King Gustaf III visited the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts premises at Rödbotorget in Stockholm and discovered that the large painting, Rembrandt's The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis (Batavernas trohetsed), hanging in the model hall of the Academy. The painting still belonged to the Dutch family Peill, who deposited it in the Academy. The King Gustaf III, who at that time was building up his gallery in the Royal Palace ("Royal Museum"), begged the need for the painting to come over to his gallery. So he felt that this painting was too significant to be located in a "school". His desire was heard since the board has become the subject of a thorough restoration of the conservator Erik Hallblad.
After the death of Gustaf III in Stockholm in 1792 the painting was donated in 1798 for good to the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm, after that the museum official and courtier in connection with the new interiors of the "Konglig Museum" ("Royal Museum") returned it to the Academy. The museum was founded in 1792 as "Konglig Museum" ("Royal Museum"), but the present building of Nationalmuseum (or National Museum of Fine Arts) on Blasieholmen in Stockholm was opened in 1866, and then it was renamed the Nationalmuseum. The museum exhibits an impressive art collection due to its benefactors, King Gustaf III and Carl Gustaf Tessin. The painting is still owned by the Academy of Arts, but has been deposited since 1864 in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Hörberg also got permission to study the collection of paintings in Drottningholm and took part of some of the Swedish nobleman, portrait painter and royal court painter Ehrenstrahl's works at the Storkyrkan in Stockholm, Sankt Nikolai kyrka (Church of St. Nicholas), in Gamla stan in Stockholm. But already during the time in Växjö Hörberg had seen the graphic works of Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, 1483–1520), the Italian master painter and architect in High Renaissance, and Wierix renaissance works with its multiple figurative scenes in classicism surroundings. The Wierix family (or "Wierix" and other variants) were a Flemish dynasty of printmakers in engraving printmakers in the 16th and early 17th centuries, active in Antwerp and Brussels.
A painting, which he admired particularly strong and often returned to, was the altarpiece in Växjö Cathedral with the motif The Ordain of the Communion, painted in 1733 by the Swedish painter Georg Engelhard Schröder.Georg Engelhard Schröder in Nordisk familjebok (2:a upplagan, 1916) (Swedish)
Purchase of the new homestead in Östergötland In 1788, Pehr Hörberg purchased a homestead in Olstorp in Risinge near Finspång in Östergötland. That was a real estate business that must have brought attention among the peasants in Rising and especially in Olstorp was made up in 1788. Then the crofter son from Småland, "The Royal Court Painter", Pehr Hörberg, bought a fourth part mantal by Chamberlain , a Swedish baron and upper-class chamberlain family De Geer.
In March 1790, Pehr Hörberg moved to Rising in Östergötland, where he had bought his new homestead Olstorp in Östergötland. Chamberlain Jean-Jacques De Geer af Finspång (1737–1809), at Finspång castle, gave him commissioned works in quantity and he also got assignments for the church. He dedicated himself quickly knowledge and appropriated rococo art soft colors and Carl Gustaf Pilo's chiaroscuro, and impressions especially from Rembrandt.
During his time in Olstorp, Pehr Hörberg painted most of his altarpieces. And when he portrayed "Jesus' Sermon on the Mount" in Risinge Church's altarpiece a piece of Olstorp's nature formed the framework. Just where "riksväg 51" is today in a slight downhill slope approaching the parish border with Hällestad, there is, north of the road, a small rocky knoll. "There the Master is sitting!" At least this is what many people believe. The dwelling-house on "Hörbergsgården" (Hörberg farm) has been rebuilt several times. The entrance door was moved, the roof was raised and so on. Today's house probably looks quite different from when Pehr Hörberg built it.
Commission for painting altarpieces He was commissioned to paint altarpieces for a large number of churches in several parishes, especially from the parishes in Småland and Östergötland. Consequently, he got orders for painting the altarpieces.
The altarpiece in Årstad Church Sometimes he carried the altarpieces in huge format. The large format of the altarpiece in the Årstad Church, Falkenberg, is over 42 sqm. Årstad parish is a locality situated in Falkenberg Municipality in Halland County. Årstad's oldest church was built in the Romanesque style during the 1200s. It was about 35 feet long and 12 meters wide. The height of the vault was over 7 feet. It was demolished and replaced by a new church in 1890. The thoughts of building a new church had been there already in 1849 and in 1869, but no breakthrough was until 1883, whereupon the planning started. The new church was designed by the Swedish architect and professor (1844–1925).The church in Årstad was renovated in 1912 and in 1959. In connection with the recent renovation, the altarpiece from the old church came on the site. Among older furniture in Årstad Church of interest is a chalice from 1500. The pulpit was from 1594 and now it is deposited at the County Museum in Halmstad. The sanctuary wall and the altarpiece was painted by the royal court painter Pehr Hörberg. Where the font is gone is unknown. Some time before 1786 the church was expanded to the east. The tower was made of wood.
Some famous altarpieces Some famous altarpieces, most of them in Östergötland and Södermanland, out of his 87 altarpieces are:
Algutsboda Church Årstad Church Asarum Church in Karlshamn Björsäter Church Foss Church Gryt Church Gustaf Church Hedvig Church in Norrköping Husby Oppunda Church Hycklinge Church Hölö Church