Foreword
We are pleased to present here Gerson Digital : Sweden in the digital format of RKD Publications. This is the 11th volume in the Gerson Digital series, which currently comprises the fully illustrated and annotated chapter, in English translation, of Horst Gerson’s Ausbreitung und Nachwirkung der holländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts, which was first published in 1942. Previous digital publications in the series have focused on Poland, Denmark, Germany, the Archduchy of Austria, Bohemia, Italy and Britain.
Horst Gerson kept the country borders in his text as they were when he wrote his book. However, Sweden in the 17th and also in the 18th century covered a very much larger area than in his time. Finland, for instance, which Gerson gave a brief chapter of its own, was part of the Swedish empire until 1809. In the course of the 17th century, parts of Norway (Jämtland, Härjedalen), Karelia, Ingria (with the important port city of Narva), Estonia (the northern part of which, as the Duchy of Estonia, had been in Swedish possession since 1561), Latvia with Riga as its most important city, parts of Pomerania with the area between Stralsund, Greifswald, Wismar, as well as Stade and Bremen-Verden were to be added. Other cities along the Baltic Sea were 'Swedish' for only a few years, between 1629 and 1635, including Stettin (Szeczecin), Memel (Klaipéda), Pillau (Baltiejsk) and Elbing (Elbląg). Most of the conquests took place during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), in which Sweden – which had initially declared neutrality – eventually excelled militarily, taking Prague in the last year of the battle during which the Habsburg art collections were looted.
For Gerson, however, the geographical division was more important than the political in the structure of his publication. The 'Sweden' chapter is part of his section on 'Scandinavia and Eastern Europe', which he divided into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Danzig & Poland. Of this section, both Norway and Finland have yet to be added to Gerson Digital.
Gerson Digital : Sweden was launched during the symposium Art on Demand : Objects, Knowledge and Ideas from the Low Countries in Sweden, 1500-1750, held at the RKD on 16 May 2024, which the authors organised in collaboration with Alex Alsemgeest (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam), Quentin Buvelot (Mauritshuis, The Hague) and Martin Olin (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm). This symposium places Gerson's publication, which focuses on painting, in a broader context. Various aspects of cultural exchange between the Low Countries and Sweden are highlighted: travelling architects, (court) painters, engravers, sculptors and tapestry weavers, exchanges in print culture, the export of art and, finally, aspects of collecting history, including looted art and diplomatic gifts. Hopefully, the proceedings of this conference can be published in due course as a sequel to Gerson Digital : Sweden.
Rieke van Leeuwen & Juliette Roding
