Artwork
Grevens Fejde

Grevens Fejde is an oil painting by Peter Hansen. It dates from 1918 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The juxtaposition of soldiers with cereal and farmers functions as the work's central symbolic device, linking warfare to the land it upended.
Grevens Fejde depicts the Count's Feud, a historical conflict referenced in the work's title. The painting portrays soldiers and farmers together with a group of humans, set against a field of cereal, situating the historical event within an agricultural landscape. The combination of armed figures and rural cultivators suggests a confrontation between military forces and the farming population, a recurring theme in depictions of sixteenth-century Danish civil strife.
By placing combatants and laborers in the same composition alongside the harvest, Peter Hansen frames the conflict as one that directly disrupted peasant life and the Danish countryside.
The juxtaposition of soldiers with cereal and farmers functions as the work's central symbolic device, linking warfare to the land it upended. The monumental horizontal format, measuring 635 cm in height and 1015 cm in width, allows the narrative to unfold as a panoramic tableau in which human struggle and agrarian setting are inseparable.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1918, Grevens Fejde is an oil painting on canvas by Peter Hansen. The work measures 635 cm in height and 1015 cm in width. Visually, the composition depicts a group of humans, specifically farmers and soldiers, engaged in scenes related to the Count's Feud.
The imagery also incorporates elements of cereal, grounding the historical conflict within an agricultural setting. The piece is classified as a painting and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
History & Provenance
Peter Hansen created the oil-on-canvas painting Grevens Fejde in 1918. The work measures 635 cm in height and 1015 cm in width, depicting scenes from the Count's Feud including soldiers, farmers, and cereal. It is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
Context
Peter Hansen's 1918 oil painting Grevens Fejde, measuring 635.0 cm by 1015.0 cm, is housed in the Statens Museum for Kunst collection in Copenhagen. The work depicts scenes from the Danish Count's Feud, featuring figures such as a soldier and farmer, reflecting Hansen's historical narrative style. Hansen, a prominent Danish painter associated with the Copenhagen School of Painting, developed a realist approach rooted in 19th-century Danish artistic traditions while engaging with contemporary European movements.
Critical reception of Grevens Fejde has focused on its ambitious scale and thematic depth, with scholars noting its significance within Hansen's oeuvre as a synthesis of national romanticism and modernist experimentation. The painting's presence in a major state museum underscores its recognized cultural importance in Danish art history.
Overview
Peter Hansen’s 1918 oil on canvas, Grevens Fejde, presents a rural tableau set in an open field. A small gathering of figures, some seated, others leaning against sparse trees, occupies the foreground, their attire rendered in muted, earthy hues. The composition extends toward a pale sky and a barren landscape, emphasizing the simplicity of the setting.
Artist & collection
Artist
Peter Hansen painted everyday life in Denmark around 1900, often using oil to catch light on roads and squares.












