3-011-353 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Reopening of the Chapel in the Royal Palace of Frederiksborg, Denmark, 1864. Engraving from a sketch by M. Simon Simonsen, showing '...the moment when the Bishop of Zeeland, before the altar, pronounces the formula of blessing the walls and the altar of the chapel...In a pew to the left, near the altar, the King and Queen of Denmark are seen...It will be remembered that a great part of the palace of Frederiksborg was destroyed by a fire on the 17th of December, 1859...It was...fortunate that the chapel of the palace, which was so much admired for its architectural beauty, its peculiar style, and brilliant decoration, was the last part to be attacked by the fire, and that some of the walls were uninjured, and almost all the movable parts, such as the altar the pulpit, and the paintings, could be removed and saved in time, before the arches of the roof fell down and crushed whatever else it contained. The restoration has been effected with the greatest care and taste, under the superintendence of the architect, Professor Meldahl, and of Messrs. Zwingmann and Klein, with other excellent sculptors, painters, and artists, who have considered it an honour to be employed on such a task'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.