Vignet til Fabricius' Danmarks historie 1854

H. C. Henneberg created this vignette for Fabricius's history of Denmark in the 19th century. The print depicts a soldier bursting through a doorway into a shadowed street, his rifle at the ready, and other soldiers visible in the background. Henneberg lived during a time when national identity was being heavily negotiated, especially after the Napoleonic Wars. Consider the role of the military in forming national identity: here, the artist elevates the figure of the soldier into a heroic archetype. The print romanticizes military life and participation in war as an act of patriotism. However, we may also consider the effect of war on a personal level. Note the look on the soldier's face. Is it fear? Resolve? Henneberg’s vignette asks us to contemplate the complex relationship between the individual and the state, the personal and the political. It encourages us to consider how narratives of national identity are constructed, and whose voices are included or excluded.