Statuette of Christian IV

Bronze statuette of Christian IV, approximately 50 cm in height, placed in the middle of the central table in Frederik VIII’s study.

The decor of Frederik VIII’s study underlines in several ways the family ties between the Houses of Oldenburg and Glücksburg. Christian IX ascended the throne as the first Glücksburg monarch in 1863, after the childless Frederik VII, and a few years later his eldest son furnished this study. The yellow and red colours refer directly to Oldenburg coat of arms, as does this statuette of the most famous Oldenburg king. Because the Danes, at the end of the 1860s, still looked on the House of Glücksburg with a certain amount of scepticism, the Crown Prince sought in this way to underline the legitimacy of the family’s worthiness as royalty.