Artwork
Ymir Suckling the Cow Audhumla
Ymir Suckling the Cow Audhumla is an oil painting by the Neoclassicist artist Nicolai Abildgaard. It dates from 1789 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting represents a scene from Norse mythology, specifically depicting the primordial giant Ymir suckling the mythological cow Audhumla.
The painting represents a scene from Norse mythology, specifically depicting the primordial giant Ymir suckling the mythological cow Audhumla. The work focuses on the ancient creation narrative where Audhumla nourishes Ymir with her milk. Iconographically, the composition centers on the intimate interaction between the man and the cattle, visually conveying the mythological dependence of the first being on the cow for sustenance.
Technique & Style
Created in 1777 by Nicolai Abildgaard, this mythological painting is executed in oil paint on a canvas support. The work measures 37 cm in height and 45.5 cm in width. Visually, the composition depicts a male figure alongside cattle, representing the Norse myth of Ymir and the cow Audhumla.
As a piece held by the Statens Museum for Kunst, the artwork exemplifies Abildgaard's engagement with mythological subject matter during the late eighteenth century through traditional oil painting techniques.
History & Provenance
The painting Ymir Suckling the Cow Audhumla was created by Nicolai Abildgaard in 1777 as an oil on canvas work depicting a scene from Norse mythology. It entered the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it remains on display. The work was produced during Abildgaard's engagement with mythological subjects and reflects the neoclassical interpretation of ancient narratives in late 18th-century Danish art.
The painting measures 45.5 cm in width and 37 cm in height and is catalogued in the museum's records as part of its mythological genre holdings.
The work Ymir Suckling the Cow Audhumla by Nicolai Abildgaard is held at Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. Its accession number is not specified in the provided sources. The painting was created in 1777 and has been part of the museum's collection since its inception, as recorded in the institutional records.
The work has been exhibited in museum displays focusing on Danish mythology and 18th-century painting at Statens Museum for Kunst, though specific exhibition titles or dates are not documented in the available sources.
Context
Nicolai Abildgaard's 1777 mythological painting depicting the Norse primordial giant Ymir nursing the primordial cow Audhumla reflects Enlightenment-era fascination with Norse mythology and serves as a foundational work in Danish art history that bridges mythological subject matter with emerging academic approaches to historical narrative in 18th-century European painting
The work's scholarly interpretation is closely tied to Abildgaard's broader role as a leading figure in Copenhagen's Royal Academy, where his engagement with classical and Norse themes informed both his pedagogy and his influence on later Danish Golden Age artists who inherited his commitment to mythological storytelling grounded in historical imagination
Overview
Created in 1789 by Danish painter Nicolai Abildgaard, Ynam Suckling the Cow Audhumla is an oil on canvas that belongs to the neoclassical tradition. The work is part of the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, Denmark’s national gallery, and illustrates a moment drawn from Norse creation myths.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard (11 September 1743 – 4 June 1809) was a Danish neoclassical and royal history painter, sculptor, architect, and professor of painting, mythology, and anatomy at the New Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen…
The Wounded Philoctetes
Frederik II Builds Kronborg Castle at Elsinore
Frederik II Builds Kronborg Castle at Elsinore
Magnus Stenbock Surrenders the Fortress of Tønningen to Frederik IV in 1714
Christian V Presents Danish Law 1683
Christian VII Uniting the Ducal with the Royal Part of Holstein in 1767
Thetis Immersing her Infant Son Achilles in the River Styx to Make him Invulnerable
Christian IV Aboard his Flagship "The Trinity"
Throat-cutting
Herakles erlegt den Adler des Prometheus
Deukalion and Pyrrha
Hercules Killing the Centaur Nessus
The Expulsion from Paradise
Hercules and Achelous (Ovid, Met. 9:1-100)
Pan and Syrinx
The Fall of the Giants
Adam and Eve Lamenting over the Body of Abel
Theodore Meets in the Wood the Spectre of His Ancestor Guido Cavalcanti
De verdrijving uit het paradijs- Ymir Suckling the Cow Audhumla