Damnatio memoriae

The barman in Sofie Kælderen said I looked Danish. It was the second time this happened today.  That made me very happy. Of course, that was after I spoke in English and he instantly laughed and switched from Danish.

Sofie Kaelderen is a wonderful, jazz playing bar beside a canal, down from the ancient ramparts that once surrounded Copenhagen.

I walked there after visiting Glyptoteket and revisiting the Danish museum. In fact, it was another splendid day in the Danish capital. Windy but warm and full of glorious surprises.

Having spent a number of hours at the National Museum yesterday, it was only right that I should visit once more. This time, I was determined to see the Viking Sorceress exhibition.

It was superb. You wear headphones and walk from room to room, the narration changing as you change rooms. You are taken to the Vølva and she tells the story of the world, past, present and future. She tells the story of Ragnarok and what is to befall us all. I find Nordic mythology so much more interesting than Christianity, Islam or Judaism.

Obviously, the museum has many artifacts to drool over. Like yesterday’s mini skirt and crop top.

These are the clothes that the Egtved Girl was buried in. She was between 16 & 18 years old when she died in around 1370BCE. It was why I came to Copenhagen. After reading about her, I felt I had to see what remained.

She was discovered in 1921 or, at least, her remains were. Actually, apart from her corded skirt and top, only her hair, brain, teeth, nails, and a little of her skin were preserved. The photo above is her tree trunk coffin with her clothes.

There was a space near the coffin that has a sign indicating a modern reconstruction of her outfit but, alas, it was gone. I don’t know why. You can see a modern reconstruction on her Wikipedia page. It caused a bit of a sensation back in the 1920’s

The best thing about the display, however, is the screen where a young woman tells the visitor her story. It was an excellent way to bring her to life.

It wasn’t fanciful or fictionally romantic. It was her story from the facts that are known. Beautifully. Okay, everything else in the museum is superb but the Egtved Girl is easily my favourite exhibit.

Almost across the road from the museum is the amazing Glyptoteket. I admit, I was a bit put off by the fact that the Carlsberg brewing family had something to do with it (I was almost tempted to title this post ‘Probably the best art gallery in the world’) but, as it turns out, that’s irrelevant. It has an extraordinary collection of art. And an amazing winter garden to look at while you have a light lunch.

There are a lot of Danish paintings to admire and wonder at. Possibly my favourite was a small painting depicting a Grecian scene. A lot of Danish painters ‘did’ the Grand Tour and painted various scenes in ancient places. And this is one of them.

Apart from the fact that you can feel the heat, I love the little splashes of red and smatterings of green. I think it’s like looking at real life. It’s beautiful. Martinus Rørbye travelled a lot and was quite the prolific painter.

Paintings (and many, many beautiful sculptures) aside, there was an exhibition at the Glyptoteket called, in English, Iconoclasm regarding the various times in history where things have been smashed for various reason by various people in order to appease the thinking of the time. I was particularly interested in seeing the head of Agrippina the Younger given I’m reading her biography at the moment.

Of course, it could just as easily NOT be Agrippina the Younger. Apparently, the head, which is here in Copenhagen, was separated from the rest of the statue (currently in Rome) following her murder in 59AD. The whole thing was cut up into 41 pieces and subsequently used as building material in Rome during the Christian period.

However, before the cutting up by the non art loving Christians, the statue was mutilated after her son, Nero, condemned her. There is also evidence that the head was altered to, perhaps, represent a subsequent empress.

Anyway, this is how I’ll see Agrippina whenever I read about her.

There were obviously many, many things I could write about that I saw today but, I shall save anyone reading this by just including two more.

Firstly, the first Joan I think I’ve seen outside of France.

Of course, I knew it was her, the moment I saw it. Anyone who knows me well knows I have a fascination for poor mad Joan. This discovery was an unexpected and great moment of excitement in my visit.

The other thing I’d like to include in this post (in order to conclude it) is my new drinking buddy, Louis.

While I was sitting in Sofie Kaelderen, he came up and put a paw on my foot. Mirinda thinks he was blessing me, ridding me of my affliction. This turned out to be not the case as the affliction still afflicted me as I left the bar. Still, blessing or not, he was a welcome companion ahead of his daily walk around the ramparts.

I hope he won’t be too disappointed when he returns to find me gone.