Photo © Keld Navntoft/The Royal House
Collage from the Danish newspaper Politiken 29th of April 2018. Original photo © Keld Navntoft/The Royal House
Photo © Keld Navntoft/The Royal House
Photo © Keld Navntoft/The Royal House
Photo © Keld Navntoft/The Royal House
Photo © Keld Navntoft/The Royal House
Photo © Keld Navntoft/The Royal House
Photo © Keld Navntoft/The Royal House
Photo © Keld Navntoft/The Royal House

Sarcophagus

Art in the shared space, 2018

Her Majesty’s sepulchral monument is now set up and stands in Saint Bridget’s Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral. Here, The Queen will be laid to rest alongside nearly 40 Danish kings and queens from the early Middle Ages until today.

The preparation of the monument has been underway since 2003, when the sculptor, professor Bjørn Nørgaard, was commissioned to create a modern sepulchral monument that can be incorporated into the large number of royal grave monuments at Roskilde Cathedral. From the project’s beginning, Bjørn Nørgaard was in close dialogue with The Queen and Prince Henrik about the idea and the design of the work “Sarcophagus”. 

Source: The Royal House

Collaborators
Stevens Vaughn/Rodney Cone, Hafnia Foundation, Xiamen, China; Glass foundry: Lhotsky, Czech Republic; Natural stone: Flemming Brian Nielsen Stenhuggeri; Stucco works: Brdr. Funder; Architect: Boldsen and Holm; Engineer: Eduard Troelsgaard; Bronze foundry: Leif Jensen; Bronze foundry: Fonderia Mariani, Italy; Iron casting: Ulldal; Silversmith: Karel Holub; Carpenter: Ove Oddermose; Crane: Johannesen kraner; Assistent: Henrik Keil

Materials

The base is crafted in sandstone from France, and the three pillars supporting the sarcophagus are of Danish granite, Faroese basalt and Greenlandic marble, respectively. The elephant heads on the pillars are cast in silver. The sarcophagus itself is of cast glass, and, in a hollow space in the glass, two figures representing The Queen and Prince Henrik are sand-blasted on the inner side. Allegories, heraldry and symbols in gilded bronze are found on the top. The Queen will be laid to rest in a crypt under the sepulchral monument. The design of the floor around the monument is made from sandstone from the same quarry in France, where the base is crafted from.

Dimensions

Approx. h. 270 x l. 400 x d. 200 cm

Location

Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark

Commissioned by

HM The Queen and Prince Henrik