Portrait of King Christian II of Denmark

The Portrait of King Christian II of Denmark (1481–1559) is one of the best documented works by Michel Sittow, an internationally renowned painter from what is now Estonia. During his lifetime, the artist worked at the courts of Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark,and England (?), but also spent a long time in his native Hanseatic city of Tallinn (German Reval). Due to his nomadic lifestyle, Sittow did not fit into the narrative of national art histories that developed in the nineteenth century. Sittow’s artistic career and oeuvre instead highlight themes of international artistic contacts, mobility, and adaptation – and these resonate with us today.

The work depicts Christian as a strong and determined Scandinavian ruler, which is how the king wished to present himself. It is the first official portrait of him as king. This painting is an important reference point in the reconstruction of Sittow’s work, gradually rediscovered in the early twentieth century. Yet scholars still disagree on the circumstances and exact date of the painting’s completion, and whether it is the original portrait or a copy made by the artist himself.