PORTRÆT SPECIAL Denmark's Hidden Treasure - The Paintings of Christ

This special edition of Frederiksborg’s podcast is published in English for listeners all over the world to enjoy.Frederiksborg Castle, just North of Copenhagen, is home to an astonishing treasure: 23 paintings depicting the life of Christ.These artworks cover the entire life of Christ – from the Annunciation and the Nativity, all the way to Gethsemane, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection.The paintings were created in the 1870s by Danish painter Carl Bloch and form a unique whole. Seldom has a single painter depicted all phases and aspects of the life of Christ as one coherent – and deeply engaging – story.Believers and tourists from all over the world flock to Frederiksborg to see these vivid depictions of Christ, which have become iconic and instantly recognizable worldwide.Not least the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know these paintings by heart. Generations have grown up with these images in schoolbooks and textbooks, often without realizing they are housed at Frederiksborg Castle in faraway Denmark.Exactly 25 years ago this October 24th, the movie The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd premiered in the US. The role of Christ was played by a young Danish actor and member of the Church, Tomas Ambt Kofod. In Denmark, he is well-known as an acclaimed stage actor and singer. But he also portrayed Christ – in a film that explicitly used Carl Bloch’s paintings as visual models for its set design.