Bergen.

Title

Bergen.

Description

Magnificent view of the city of Bergen, seen from the sea.

ca. 1830

Artist

Baerentzen (1799-1868)

Emilius Ditlev Bærentzen (1799- 1868), usually known as Emil Bærentzen, was a Danish painter and lithographer, active during the Golden Age of Danish painting. Born in Copenhagen in 1799, Bærentzen served an apprenticeship in the pharmacy in Nyköbing Sjælland but then traveled to Christiansted on the then Danish island of St. Croix in the West Indies where he worked in one of the government offices. Five years later he returned to Denmark and after qualifying as a lawyer, moved to the up to paint, then he had practiced as a hobby. In 1821 he entered the Academy of Arts he studied under Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg. He received the small silver medal in 1826 and the large silver medal the following year. He soon became one of Copenhagen's most popular portrait painters. His paintings were characterized by an elegant but simple style, free of psychological trimmings in keeping with contemporary practice. One of his most successful works is the portrait of Sören Kierkegaard's fiancée Regine Olsen (1840). In 1837 he began to specialize in lithography with H.L. Danschell, which led his late father-in-Law oilcloth factory where stones were used to dye the fabric. This led to the establishment of a lithographic company, Emilius Bärentzen & Co.s Litografiske Institut, which later Hoffensberg, Jespersen & Fr. Trap. Bærentzen made lithographs of many of the most important personalities of the time. He worked both as a lithographer and artist until 1866 when he painted the portrait of Cosmus Bræstrup for the Masonic Lodge in Elsinore.

Historical Description

Bergen is also known in Norway as Syvfjellsbyen (German for "City of the Seven Hills"). This nickname is said to go back to the poet Ludvig Holberg, presumably in reference to the Seven Hills of Rome. According to information in the King's Sagas, Bergen was founded in 1070 as Bjørgvin ("mountain meadow") by King Olav Kyrre. From the 12th century it was the Norwegian coronation city; later it was replaced in this function by Trondheim. In 1360, a Hanseatic trading post "Tyske Bryggen" opened in Bergen. Although Bergen is often referred to as a "Hanseatic city", it was not an equal member city. In 1665, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, English warships attacked a Dutch merchant fleet in Bergen harbour. The battle in Bergen Bay ended in defeat for the English. Until 1880, Bergen was Norway's most important port and largest city. In 1873, the Norwegian doctor Gerhard Armauer Hansen discovered the pathogen Mycobacterium leprae in Bergen. The oldest leprosy hospital, St. Jørgens Hospital, opened in the 15th century, treated lepers until the 1940s and today houses the Bergen Leprosy Museum and the Leprosy Archive, which is part of the UNESCO Memory of the World programme.