Danish School 18th Century equestrian portrait of Christian VI of Denmark (ruled 1730-1746)
Danish School 18th Century equestrian portrait of Christian VI of Denmark (ruled 1730-1746)
An 18th Century Danish School equestrian portrait of Christian VI of Denmark (ruled 1730-1746) in uniform, wearing the Order of the Elephant, mounted on a grey Lipizzaner horse, with a wooded landscape beyond, oil on canvas, unlined, in a gilded and black frame surmounted by a crown.
Size 36 inches (91.5cm) high; 30 inches (74cm) wide
Stock Number: VT20343
🔶 On Consignment
The Order of the Elephant is Denmark’s oldest and most distinguished royal order of chivalry. The statutes determining the rules for the presentation of the Order’s insignia were laid down by Christian V in 1693. At the traditional New Year’s Day banquets (important celebrations in the Danish calendar) a recipient of the Order of the Elephant - in the last 400 years or so only around 890 persons in all - would wear the Order on a chain-link collar, which rests on both shoulders. On other occasions, as is shown in the portrait, the Order is worn on a blue sash extending from left shoulder to right hip.
The Royal Danish Stud, provider of war horses and courtly mounts, was based at Frederiksborg. A grey colt, Pluto, foaled there in 1765 became one of the foundation stallions of the Lipizzaner Stud in Austria, breeders of the world famous horses of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
