ÅSGÅRDSREIEN: NATIONALISM AND MYTH IN TWO PAINTINGS BY PETER ARBO

Abstract

This article seeks to explore the relationships between the artistic production of Peter Nicolai Arbo and the political transformations in Scandinavia between the 19th and 20th centuries. Arbo, born in Drammen in 1831, Norway, is well known for the production of two paintings known as Åsgårdsreien, the first in 1868 and the second in 1872, both influenced by Johann Sebastian Welhaven's poem of the same name. Although is it known that the official date of Norway's Independence is 1905, it is nevertheless necessary to remember that different artists sought to culturally construct their identity as a nation already in the previous century in a project of sovereignty that rejected the influences of Denmark and Sweden. New cultural projects were built to express Norway's yearning for independence using characters from medieval literature and mythology as a way to reinforce their national identity.