Restoration of the Winter Room
A unique room
The Winter Room at Rosenborg Castle is unique and central to the experience of Christian IV’s Rosenborg. Here, in his daily living room in his favourite castle, you can get closer to this great Danish Renaissance king than anywhere else.
This well-preserved Renaissance room has rich and highly unusual decorations. A total of 95 paintings on wooden panels are fitted into the ornately carved wall panelling. From 2024 to 2026, this decoration will be undergoing complete restoration.
The project is a collaboration between the Royal Danish Collection and the National Museum of Denmark, and is funded by the Augustinus Foundation.
Restoration of the ceilings and paintings in the Winter Room
Bright colours appear, once the old layers of varnish are removed from the paintings in the Winter Room. We have been allowed a peek into the Conservation Department at the National Museum in Brede, where they are working on the paintings from the west wall.
Taking down the ceiling panels and paintings in the Winter Room
Conservators from the National Museum of Denmark have begun to take down ceiling panels and paintings in the Winter Room. To avoid scratches or dents on moulding or framing, they use special wooden wedges and protective silicone paper. Once the paintings have been taken down, their condition is assessed. Next, they go into the workshop, where the paint layer is stabilised, and the paintings are cleaned. All decisions during this process are made in close cooperation with conservators from the Royal Danish Collection.
History of the Winter Room
Like Rosenborg Castle itself, the Winter Room is created over an extended period. The castle is originally designed as a country seat in the new gardens that Christian IV establishes in 1605–1606 outside the fortifications around Copenhagen. Soon, the castle is found to be too small, and as early as 1613, it is doubled in length. It is during this expansion that the Winter Room is created.
Initially, the room is lined with beautiful wooden panelling, created by the court cabinetmaker Gregor Greus. Later, Christian IV decides to elaborate the decoration and adds the paintings that we see embedded in the wall panels today. Some of them are bought or commissioned in Antwerp, a leading European art centre with an almost factory-like serial production of paintings.
The ceiling we see today is a later addition to the Winter Room, which originally had a painted stucco ceiling. The current ceiling was originally installed in the room above. The ceiling painting is moved to its current location in connection with a renovation initiated by Frederik IV around 1706.
The next major change to the Winter Room is seen on either side of the fireplace. Originally, there are two window niches here, similar to the others in the room. However, in the 1750s, the architect responsible for the castle decides to continue the oriels on the upper floors down to the foundation to prevent their collapse. This creates the two deeper niches on either[HH14.1] side of the fireplace, which are decorated with six new paintings in the same style as the existing ones – even the frames are designed to blend in with the original decor.
In Christian IV’s time, the Winter Room had a tile floor. During the 1720s, it is replaced with wood flooring. In 1862, nearly 25 years after Rosenborg was converted into a museum, the floorboards in the Winter Room are replaced with marble tiles.
Despite these historical changes, the Winter Room has remained unique. The major conservation and restoration project, which runs from 2024 to 2026, provides us an even closer look at this room, which was so cherished by Christian IV.
A rare opportunity
The decorations in the Winter Room have been the subject of years of research, so we have already gained important insights. This new project offers a unique opportunity to find answers to many of the remaining questions.
This is the first time that the original decoration of the room is systematically examined and restored at once. Such an in-depth study undertaken by researchers, conservators, historians and art historians offers a rare chance to gain new information and learn more about the unique Winter Room.