Bible Art - Bloch's "Life of Christ"

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The celebrated Danish painter Carl Heinrich Bloch, was born on May 23, 1834, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the son of merchant Joergen Peter Bloch and Ida Emilie Ulrikke Henriette Weitzmann Bloch. Bloch's parents wanted Carl to become an officer in the Navy, but the boy's only interest was in drawing and painting, and he was consumed by the idea of becoming an artist.

Bloch joined the Royal Danish Academy of Art and obtained a travel grant, taking him to Holland, France and Italy with his best friend and fellow artist, Anton Dorph. During his travels, Bloch developed great admiration for Rembrandt, who became a major driving force in Bloch's development as an artist.

"Life of Christ" images can be seen as a slideshow by clicking the image at the left, or viewed individually by clicking captions in the list at the right, (below on phones).

His early work centered upon rural scenes from everyday life. Bloch lived in Italy from 1859 to 1866, and this period was important to the development of his historical style. He subsequently had notable success with the exhibition of his Prometheus Unbound in Copenhagen in 1865.

Carl met his future wife, Alma Trepka, in Rome, where he married her in May 1868. Their lives together were happy and prosperous until her early death in January 1886. Her death weighed heavily on Bloch, and he was left alone with their eight children following her demise.

Bloch was commissioned to produce 23 paintings for the King's Chapel at Frederiksborg Palace. These were all scenes from the life of Christ, (depicted here), and became very popular as illustrations. The originals were all painted between 1865 and 1879, and are still at Frederiksborg Palace. The success of these works led to his work in creating paintings for altarpieces. These fine works can be found at Holbæk, Odense, Ugerløse and Copenhagen in Denmark, as well as Löderup, Hörup, and Landskrona in Sweden and Hvalvík in the Faroe Islands.

Now, more than a hundred years after Carl Bloch's death, young artists from all over the world, attempting to illustrate the life and death of Christ, make pilgrimage to Frederiksborg Castle to study the great Master. Many have recognized Carl Bloch as perhaps the greatest artist ever to interpret the life and death of Christ.