OPEN LECTURE

24 october 2023, 18.00
At the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome and on ZOOM → https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85659221558
Meeting ID: 856 5922 1558

CHRISTOPHER LANDSTEDT

Carl Fredrik Sundvall – Studies in Rome 1788-1791

Despite growing up under relatively bleak conditions Carl Fredrik Sundvall (1754-1831) managed to pursue a career as an architect, much thanks to his uncle Carl Fredric Adelcrantz (1716-1796). Holding the position of superintendent and president of the Royal Academy of Arts, Adelcrantz was one of the leading architects in Sweden at the time. As a student and apprentice of Adelcrantz, Sundvall undertook a solid and traditional training eventually culminating in an educational travel to France and Italy with the intention of refining his knowledge and skills by exposing him to the latest trends in Paris and the antiquities of the Roman empire. After five years of studies in Paris, Sundvall moved to Rome in 1788 where he stayed for three years before returning to Sweden in 1791. The years in Paris were mainly financed by Adelcrantz, while a sanctioned salary from the king Gustav III (1746-1792) allowed Sundvall to complete his education in Rome.
Although not officially participating in the training at the French Academy, Sundvall befriended Jacques Charles Bonnard (1765–1818), the then current holder of Grand Prix de Rome. Few letters from Sundvall’s time in Rome remains. Therefore, the similarities between the education of the French architects and Sundvall can be traced to the great number of drawings and sketchbooks that has survived from the years in Paris and Rome. Apart from his association with several members of the French Academy in Rome, Sundvall also studied alongside his fellow countrymen including painters, sculptors and engravers.

Shortly after his return to Stockholm, Sundvall’s career took an unexpected turn due to the assassination of Gustav III in March 1792. Despite being one of the most well-educated architects at the time, Sundvall received remarkably few commissions throughout the rest of his life. Nonetheless he was still an active member of both The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts and The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, publishing an essay in the latter titled About the usefulness of the ancient style in the art of building, especially for Sweden (1821).
The seminar presentation will examine Sundvall’s studies in Rome through his drawings and the written sources, discussing the impact the stay had on his further career, including both unfinished and completed projects such as Stjernsund Palace and Carolina Rediviva (the main building of Uppsala University Library). Another topic of exploration will be how the architect’s period of scholarly residence in Rome, as expounded upon in the above mentioned essay, profoundly shaped his theoretical comprehension.

Christopher Landstedt holds a PhD in Art history from Stockholm University. The dissertation Festivities, Places and Visual Culture in Stockholm During the Gustavian Era (2023) is a study of festivities, masquerades and divertissements in Stockholm between 1772 and 1808, focusing on the visual culture of these events, examining how both permanent as well as ephemeral art and architecture were used in a meaningful way to reinforce themes and narratives desired by the organizers.
In 2023 Landstedt will be a guest researcher at the Swedish Institute in Rome while holding the C.M. Lerici Foundation’s fellowship, with the aim of conducting research about the architect Carl Fredrik Sundvall’s (1754-1831) stay and studies in Rome between 1788-1791.
The primary objective of this research initiative is to achieve the dissemination through a peer-reviewed journal, while it can at the same time serve as a foundation for further investigations on Sundvall’s undertakings.
Other current research projects include the examination on self-representation and manifestation in portraits depicting members of the burghers in Sweden during the age of liberty. The article will be part of a forthcoming anthology to be published by Nord Academic in 2024.