Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard (1743–1809)

• Was a Danish neoclassical and royal history painter, sculptor, architect, and professor of painting, mythology, and anatomy.
• Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard was born in Copenhagen, Denmark.

• Abildgaard studied under the guidance of Johan Edvard Mandelberg and Johannes Wiedewelt.

• He won a series of medallions at the Academy for his brilliance from 1764 to 1767.

• The Large Gold Medallion from the Academy won in 1767.

• Abildgaard traveled to Rome, where he stayed from 1772 to 1777.

• He took a side trip to Naples in 1776 with Jens Juel.

• His ambitions focused in the genre of history painting.

• While in Rome, he studied Annibale Carracci's frescoes at the Palazzo Farnese and the paintings of Rafael, Titian, and Michelangelo.

• He developed an appreciation for the literature of Shakespeare, Homer, and Ossian. 

• He worked with themes from Greek as well as Norse mythology, which placed him at the forefront of Nordic romanticism.

• He arrived back in Denmark in December 1777.

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