Miljöskildringar, showcase, monterdel, Depictions of people and places

Ett historiskt ögonblick?
Historiemåleri, att måla olika historiska händelser, var populärt i Europa under 1800-talet. Det var en del av nationalromantiken. Händelser som ansågs viktiga i ett lands historia valdes ut som motiv. Tavlorna gjordes ofta väldigt stora för att betraktaren skulle känna sig liten inför historien, ödmjuk inför stora händelser och inte glömma bort dem.

I bildens centrum ställdes gärna en namngiven person. Eftersom det även handlade om att föra berättelsen vidare var det vanligt att måla in vittnen i händelsen. Vittnena skulle också öka betraktarens känsla av att stå bredvid och bevittna det historiska ögonblicket.

Namnet historiemåleri behövde däremot inte betyda inte att händelsen överhuvudtaget hade inträffat på riktigt. Det var också vanligt att koncentrera en hel berättelse till en enda bild: slaget vid Lützen, drottning Kristinas abdikation. Fantasi blandades med naturtrogna detaljer.

Skolplanscher med historiska händelser var ofta baserade på tavlor av kända konstnärer. Miljöskildringar utan namngivna personer gjordes istället direkt som skolplanscher.

A moment in history?
History painting – the art of painting various historical events – was popular in 19th century Europe and formed part of a romantic nationalism. Events that were seen as important to a country’s history were selected as scenes. The paintings were often made on large canvases so that the onlooker would feel small before the weight of his history, and so humbled by the historical events that they would be sure not to forget them.
A recognisable historical figure would usually be positioned at the centre of the image. Witnesses to the event would also quite often be included in order to help propagate the story further. These witnesses would intensify the onlooker’s sensation of standing by and witnessing a moment in history.
Although the term ‘history painting’ was used, this did not necessarily mean that the event had actually really happened at all. For example, Duke Charles did not really pull on the beard of his dead rival Klaus Fleming. It was also quite common to concentrate an entire story into a single picture. Imagination was blended together with highly realistic details.
School wallcharts depicting historical events were often based on paintings by famous artists. Images of the environment and nature which did not feature historical figures, on the other hand, were often original images made exclusively for the charts.