The Girl Sleeping in the Rock by Theodor Lundberg at the Stockholm National Museum in Sweden

The Girl Sleeping in the Rock by Theodor Lundberg at the Stockholm National Museum in Sweden

This fascinating marble sculpture was acquired by the museum in 1923 and it’s dimensions are 40 x 39 x 18.5 cm. We note it’s slight erotic overtone but also it’s projected female strength. We note; Power, strength and beauty. We can also see the influence of Auguste Rodin who was friends with the creator.

Theodor Lundberg was a Swedish sculptor who was born in Stockholm in 1852 and died in Rome in 1927. He grew up in a poor home and became fatherless at a young age when he also apprenticed with the medal engraver Lea Ahlborn at a Mint. He later became a student at The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, then became a professor at the academy in 1908 and the director in 1911. Lundberg was known to have been one of the most engaged artists in public art and sculpture which worked so well with the tastes of the Oscarian era. The Oscarian era was a historical epoch in Scandinavia, when Oscar II was king of Sweden and Norway (from 1872 to around 1907) during the Swedish–Norwegian Union.

By Anthony King (c)