Kungens porträtt

Mellan privat och offentligt

Abstract

The article describes how three different portraits of the Swedish King are moving between public and private spheres in different ways for different reasons. Since portraits are considered public by most definitions it is interesting when private aspects of a public figure is used in a portrait. The Swedish National Portrait Gallery comissioned a portrait of the royal family with the succession in focus, but it is also an image of a "normal" family like the photos in our own private albums. At the King's 50th birthday the Swedish government gave him an intimate portrait with minimal references to his status. Compare these two paintings with the King's own comission for the Bernadotte Gallery, portrayed as a statesman in a traditional portrait of a king. As roalty in general are becoming celebrities instead of political institutions, their private lives come in focus of media attention. This might be exaggerates since their celebrity is based on their dynastic functions. As a consequence the statesman-like portrait becomes important only for the royal families own comissions.