View source for Constantin Hansen

{{short description|Danish artist (1804–1880)}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Constantin Hansen
| image = File:Constantin Hansen-w.jpg
| caption =''Constantin Hansen''<br /> Illustreret Tidende, 4. april 1880  
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1804|11|3|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Rome, Papal States
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1880|3|29|1804|11|3|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Copenhagen]], Denmark
| nationality = Danish
| field = Painting
| training = [[Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts]]
| movement = [[Danish Golden Age]], [[Romanticism]]
| works = ''[[A Group of Danish Artists in Rome]]'' (1837)<br /> ''[[The Danish Constituent Assembly]]''  (1861-1865)
| patrons =
| inspired by = 
| influenced =
}}

[[File:Grundlovgivende rigsforsamling - Constantin Hansen.jpg|thumb|''The Danish Constituent Assembly'' (1861-1865)]]
[[File:Et selskab af danske kunstnere i Rom.jpg|thumb|''[[A Group of Danish Artists in Rome]]'' (1837)]]

'''Carl Christian Constantin Hansen (Constantin Hansen)''' (3 November 1804 – 29 March 1880) was one of the painters associated with the [[Danish Golden Age|Golden Age of Danish Painting]].  He was deeply interested in literature and [[mythology]], and inspired by art historian [[Niels Laurits Høyen]], he tried to recreate a national [[history painting|historical painting]] based on [[Norse mythology]].  He painted also many [[altarpiece]]s and [[portrait]]s, including the monumental oil painting ''[[The Danish Constituent Assembly]]'' (''Den grundlovgivende Rigsforsamling'') between 1861 and 1865.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.kulturarv.dk/kid/VisWeilbach.do?kunstnerId=64&wsektion=biografi
|title= Constantin Hansen|publisher= Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbach Kunstnerleksikon|author=   Hannemarie Ragn Jensen 
|accessdate=March 1, 2019}}</ref>

== Early life ==
He was born in [[Rome]], the son of portrait painter [[Hans Hansen (Danish painter)|Hans Hansen]]. The family soon relocated to [[Vienna]], where [[Constanze Mozart]], the widow of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]], became godmother at his christening and he was named after her. Within his first year, the family moved to [[Copenhagen]], where he was raised.<ref name=dbl>{{cite web|url=  https://runeberg.org/dbl/6/0618.html|title= Hansen, Hans, 1769-1828|publisher=  Dansk biografisk Lexikon|author=  Ph. Weilbach|access-date=March 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fembio.org/biographie.php/frau/biographie/constanze-mozart   |title=  Constanze Mozart  |publisher= fembio.org|accessdate=March 1, 2019}}</ref>

== Education ==
He entered the architecture school of the [[Royal Danish Academy of Art]] (''Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi'') at 12 years of age, but changed his course of study to painting at the age of 21. He began his training under [[Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg]] in 1828. He lost both his parents at about this time to [[typhus]], and became the sole supporter of his younger sisters. He took over several commissions that had belonged to his father, including some copies to the Portrait Collection at [[Frederiksborg Palace]] and decorative paintings to [[Christiansborg Palace]].

== Foreign study ==

In 1835 he received a two-year stipend to travel abroad, which was followed up by an additional year's stipend. His travels took him through Berlin, [[Dresden]], [[Prague]], [[Nuremberg]] and [[Munich]] on his way to [[Italy]], where he travelled extensively and stayed longer periods in Rome, [[Naples]] and [[Pompeii]]. In Italy he met fellow Dane, the sculptor [[Bertel Thorvaldsen]]. He travelled with other Danish artists, including [[Jørgen Roed]], [[Christen Købke]] and decorative painter [[Georg Hilker]] (1807–1875).<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.kulturarv.dk/kid/VisWeilbach.do;jsessionid=21956CFFA55B8EC61AC4B3197C3D3464?kunstnerId=4336&wsektion=biografi |title= Georg Hilker|publisher= Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbach Kunstnerleksikon|author= Sys Hartmann  |accessdate=March 1, 2019}}</ref>

The Copenhagen Art Union (''Kunstforening'') commissioned a painting from Hansen in 1837. He provided them with ''[[A Group of Danish Artists in Rome]]'', (''Et Selskab af danske Kunstnere i Rom''). In addition he painted Italian folk scenes, and studies of Roman antiquities and architecture that reflect Eckersberg's spirit.

After eight years in Italy he finally returned to Denmark, staying briefly in Munich, where he studied the technique of [[fresco]] painting, in anticipation of a commission, along with Georg Hilker, to decorate the [[University of Copenhagen]]'s vestibule on Frue Plads.  This work continued from 1844 until 1853.  Hansen painted the mythological figures, while Hilker painted the decorations and frameworks.

== Marriage ==
He married Magdalene Barbara Købke in 1846, and they had thirteen children. However, four children died within one year after being born and one of their sons, Hans Christian, was killed at the age of nineteen, when he fell overboard from the mast of the sailing ship on which he was a sailor.

In 1854 he was named professor at the Academy, but first became member of the Academy in 1864.  One of his daughters, [[Elise Konstantin-Hansen]], (1858–1946) became a recognized painter, and another [[Kristiane Konstantin-Hansen]] (1848–1925), became a [[tapestry]] weaver.<ref>{{cite web|url=  http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/512/origin/170/|title= Elise Konstantin-Hansen (1858-1946)|publisher= Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon|author= Jens Peter Munk|accessdate=March 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=  http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/513/origin/170/|title= Kristiane Konstantin-Hansen (1848-1925)|publisher= Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon|author= Lone Egeberg|accessdate=March 1, 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
{{commons}}
* [[List of Danish painters]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Other sources==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070609130511/http://www.kid.dk/ KID Kunst Index Danmark ("Art Index Denmark")]
* [https://runeberg.org/dbl/ Danish Biographical Encyclopedia ("''Dansk biografisk Leksikion''")]
*[http://www.germanicmythology.com/works/HansenArtPage.html Images of the Old Norse Gods]
* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Hansen Wikimedia Commons]
* Monrad, Kasper (1993). The Golden Age of Danish Painting. New York: Hudson Hills Press.

{{Constantin Hansen}}
{{Danish Golden Age}}

{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Constantin}}
[[Category:Artists from Copenhagen]]
[[Category:1804 births]]
[[Category:1880 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Danish painters]]
[[Category:Danish male painters]]
[[Category:Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century painters of historical subjects]]
[[Category:19th-century Danish male artists]]