Artwork
Frederik V on Horseback
Frederik V on Horseback is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Carl Gustaf Pilo. It dates from 1754 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts Frederick V of Denmark mounted on a horse, presenting the monarch in a formal equestrian portrait.
The painting depicts Frederick V of Denmark mounted on a horse, presenting the monarch in a formal equestrian portrait. Created by Carl Gustaf Pilo in 1754, the work centers the king as the main subject, emphasizing his royal status through the traditional iconography of the rider on horseback. As a portrait genre piece, the composition serves to represent the authority and presence of the Danish sovereign.
Technique & Style
Carl Gustaf Pilo’s Frederik V on Horseback (1754) is an oil painting executed on a canvas support. The work measures 305 cm in height and 245 cm in width, presenting a grand-scale equestrian portrait.
Pilo’s handling emphasizes the monarch’s regal presence through controlled brushwork and a polished finish, typical of mid-18th-century academic portraiture. The composition arranges Frederik V astride a rearing horse, framed against a subdued background that directs attention to the sitter’s commanding posture and ceremonial attire. The artist’s technique combines smooth modeling of flesh and fabric with crisp detailing in the horse’s musculature and harness, underscoring the work’s ceremonial function and dynastic prestige.
History & Provenance
The equestrian portrait of Frederik V was created by Carl Gustaf Pilo in 1754. Executed in oil on canvas, the work measures 305 cm in height and 245 cm in width. The painting depicts Frederick V of Denmark mounted on a horse. It is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
The painting is held by Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen.
It is inventoried as SMK 466 by the museum’s collection system.
The work has been shown in the museum’s permanent display of Danish eighteenth-century portraits since at least the mid-twentieth century.
Overview
Frederik V on Horseback is an oil painting executed in 1754 by the Swedish artist Carl Gustaf Pilo, who worked primarily in Denmark. Rendered in the Rococo idiom, the work presents the Danish monarch on a rearing horse, set against a muted, atmospheric landscape. The composition is part of the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
Artist & collection
Artist
Carl Gustaf Pilo (5 March 1711 – 2 March 1793) was a Swedish painter. Pilo worked extensively in Denmark as a painter to the Danish Royal Court and as professor and director at the Royal Danish Academy of Art (Danish:…
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