14/09/2026
OPEN LECTURE - Christopher Landstedt
🗓️ 22 september
⏰ 18.00
📍 Via Omero 14
”Eric Gustaf Göthe in Rome 1804–1810: Beyond the neoclassical tradition”
This lecture explores the Swedish sculptor Eric Gustaf Göthe’s (1779–1838) years in Rome between 1804 and 1810, a formative period in which he encountered the artistic traditions, institutions, and international networks that shaped the practice of sculpture in the early nineteenth century. Göthe arrived in Rome after his education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and a year in Paris, entering a highly competitive artistic milieu in which the study of antiquity was closely intertwined with contemporary artistic production.
Particular attention is given to works produced during his Roman years, including the now-lost Meleager of 1806 and the Bacchus of 1808. In Meleager, Göthe transformed a relatively uncommon moment from an ancient myth into a monumental, free-standing figure, balancing vigorous physical action with the restraint and formal control associated with the classical ideal. A contemporary review by the Roman antiquarian and art critic Giuseppe Antonio Guattani offers a rare first-hand response to the work and provides an important perspective on Göthe’s artistic ambitions. Through an analysis of Guattani’s critique and the preserved visual testimonies, this talk will discuss how Göthe balanced intense muscular dynamics and narrative suspense with the neoclassical imperative of formal restraint.
The lecture also discusses Göthe’s Roman commissions, most notably the funerary monument to Eliza Watson Temple in Cimitero Acattolico di Roma (the protestant cemetery). Together, these works reveal an artist negotiating between the study of antiquity, the conventions of Neoclassicism as well as the demands of contemporary commissions. By examining Göthe’s Roman production in its local and international context, the lecture seeks to reassess his place within the history of Nordic sculpture and to illuminate the significance of Rome as a site of artistic education, exchange and professional formation.
Christopher Landstedt holds a PhD in Art History from Stockholm University. The dissertation Festivities, Places and Visual Culture in Stockholm During the Gustavian Era (2023) is a study of festivities, masquerades and divertissements in Stockholm between 1772 and 1808, focusing on the visual culture of these events, examining how the city itself along with permanent as well as ephemeral art and architecture were used in a meaningful way to reinforce themes and narratives desired by the organizers.
Starting in March 2026 Landstedt is a guest researcher at the Swedish Institute in Rome, holding the postdoctoral scholarship from The Torsten and Ingrid Gihl Foundation, based at the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, with the aim of conducting research on the sculptor Erik Gustaf Göthe’s (1779–1838) studies and work in Italy. Prior to receiving the Gihl Foundation’s postdoctoral scholarship, Landstedt worked as a lecturer in Art History at Stockholm University. In October 2026 he will assume a position as curator with responsibility for the art collection at Stockholm University
