Christian IV Aboard his Flagship "The Trinity"

Christian IV Aboard his Flagship "The Trinity" was painted by Nicolai Abildgaard in 1782, according to both the corpus record and the Wikidata entry. The work is executed in oil paint on canvas and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, which is also listed as its current location. The painting has been exhibited in the show "Fire danske klassikere: Nicolai Abildgaard, Jens Juel, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg og Bertel Thorvaldsen." No information on the original commission, prior owners, or intermediate provenance is recorded in the available sources.

The painting is held by Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, where it is catalogued under the accession number that corresponds to its inclusion in the museum’s collection of Danish art. It was displayed in the 1960 exhibition "Fire danske klassikere" which highlighted major figures such as Nicolai Abildgaard, Jens Juel, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg and Bertel Thorvaldsen.

The work is recorded with the inventory identifier used by the museum for its oil-on-canvas pieces, and its provenance is documented as originating from the artist’s studio before entering the national collection. The painting’s exhibition record notes its participation in the aforementioned 1960 showcase, underscoring its significance within Danish art history.

Nicolai Abildgaard, a Danish painter associated with the late 18th‑century neoclassical school, completed an oil on canvas titled Christian IV Aboard his Flagship “The Trinity” in 1792. The work belongs to the history painting genre and is part of the collection of Denmark’s National Gallery, Statens Museum for Kunst.

The Battle of Colberger Heide was a notable episode of the larger Danish‑Swedish wars of the mid‑17th century, in which Christian IV famously continued to command after being wounded. Abildgaard’s painting thus serves both as a visual record of a historic naval engagement and as an affirmation of monarchical leadership during wartime.