Monument to Frederik V

 Karin Kryer notes that Wiedewelt provided a detailed description of his Monument to Frederik V :

“In Wiedewelt’s descriptions, written on the approved drawing, he emphasizes the significance of the gestures and the expressions of the figures. Prudence should appear thoughtful, looking towards Fortitude as if addressing her. Peace holds her hand, and the movements and the faces should show that Fortitude is listening to the advice of Prudence. The Felicity of the Century is speaking to Fortitude, but is pointing at the same time towards the crossed cornucopiae, the symbol of Abundance in the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, the result of the king’s successful government.

Wiedewelt calls the column behind the sarcophagus ‘The Column of Apotheosis’. It is furnished with his late Majesty’s portrait medallion and supports an urn on the top. This is an allusion to the columns of Roman emperors, who were automatically deified when they died...This would have been quite blasphemous if we did not at the same time recall the absolute monarch’s particular role as a king by the grace of God and as God’s deputy on earth. The kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, two mourning women, flank the entire monument. They both wear diadems – that of Denmark displaying the lions and hearts taken from the Danish coat-of-arms, while the Norwegian one shows the lion from the coat-of-arms of Norway.”

Kryger also considers Wiedewelt’s Monument to Frederik V important:

“The monument is the supreme example of Danish Neo-classical sepulchral art. Its majestic appearance and use of ideas fulfil its purpose magnificently.”

Karin Kryger, “Wiedewelt and Allegory,” in Marjatta Nielsen and Annette Rathje, eds., Johannes Wiedewelt. A Danish Artist in Search of the Past, Shaping the Future (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2010), pp. 119-20 & 120.