The Foundation of the Copenhagen Fire Insurance 1786

Editor: This is Nicolai Abildgaard’s marble relief, "The Foundation of the Copenhagen Fire Insurance" from 1786. I’m immediately struck by how calm and collected everyone appears, given the subject. What is your take on this work? Curator: Calm, indeed. Like peering into a lucid dream, isn't it? Abildgaard, wrestling with Neoclassicism, presents us with a story. Think of it not just as marble, but as frozen theatre. We see figures drawn from classical antiquity solemnly engaging in commerce! It's like watching ancient philosophers cut a deal. Can you imagine Cicero selling insurance? It sounds absurd! But within that tension, he delivers quite a bit. Editor: So, the classical style gives a sense of gravity to…insurance? I'm a bit lost, to be honest. Curator: Exactly! The beauty, for me, lies in that very absurdity. Fire, chaos, the unpredictable hand of fate... and then, cool marble, rational figures. He uses the visual language of heroism for, let's be honest, something quite prosaic. It's a subtle, clever dance. Don’t you find that disconnect almost... poetic? Editor: I see what you mean. It makes you question what deserves to be memorialized, doesn't it? So, is he making a statement about Copenhagen at the time? Curator: Perhaps! Or about art itself. It's a rather sly commentary embedded in beautiful stonework. Almost like a joke, but one etched in stone. Editor: It’s interesting to consider the use of Neoclassical style here and it's made me think differently about the monumentality that's normally associated with it. Curator: Precisely. I suppose, then, it is not always a mere celebration of the heroic, but rather, sometimes a nudge, a sly wink, whispering, “Even insurance has its epic side."