Research projects

For the museum staff, the gathering of new knowledge about the Glyptotek’s collection is constantly in focus, both in connection with current research and dissemination in-house and through initiatives in the form of special exhibitions. The Glyptotek has also developed a number of research projects which occupy a number of full-time employees.

Ancient Polychromy
In 2006 the Glyptotek initiated a research programme dealing with paint and other aspects of polychromy on ancient sculpture. The project has acquired support from the Kirsten and Freddy Johansen Foundation for the purchase of important equipment and on number of occasions from the Carlsberg Foundation to fund the appointment of archaeologists and conservators for the central phase of the project. This research programme is based on a national and international research network, and the work has so far led to a major special exhibition on the topic at the Glyptotek in 2014 as well as to numerous scientific publications. In the period 2018-2020, under the title Sensing the Ancient World, the project is expanding its focus to include studies of the role played by sound, light and scent in ancient art.

Read more here.

Antiquity in the 21st Century – How?
The PhD project Antiquity in the 21st Century – How? conducted by Julie Lejsgaard Christensen will look at how antiquity and the Glyptotek’s collection of antiquities could be updated and presented in a way that is relevant to today’s museum visitors. The project will investigate the narratives engendered by recent antiquity research that are not traditionally presented to visitors in museums’ antiquity exhibitions. This will be linked to a user perspective. The museum’s users will be involved in the qualification of more multifaceted, relevant narratives about antiquity. Finally, the project will help develop captivating concepts for public outreach and engagement, also qualified on the basis of a user perspective. The project is part of the Glyptotek’s work on an upcoming, entirely new presentation of its collections of antiquities.

The PhD project is funded by the Ny Carlsberg Foundation and is being realised in a collaboration between Aarhus University and the Glyptotek.

Rodin the Collector
The Glyptotek’s Rodin collection is outstanding. Its impressive total of 39 works demonstrates an incredible range of materials, and nearly all of the works were created in Rodin’s lifetime, commissioned by Carl Jacobsen directly from the artist himself. Carl Jacobsen and Auguste Rodin shared a passion for antiquity and for collecting. The PhD project, Rodin the Collector conducted by Christine Tommerup will take a close look at Rodin’s fascination with antiquity by researching into the artist’s own private collection of ancient Greek and Roman objects and artefacts from Egypt, Japan, China, South America, the Middle East and India. The research project sets out to enhance our understanding of how Rodin deployed antiquity in his works.

The project is funded by the Ny Carlsberg Foundation and is being realised in a collaboration between Aarhus University and the Glyptotek.

Previous research projects
Copenhagen 1888: Den Franske Kunstudstilling was a two-year postdoctoral project (2019-2021) conducted by Nicholas Parkinson that explored Carl Jacobsen’s 1888 exhibition of nineteenth-century French artworks and the ambition towards establishing Copenhagen as an important centre of international modernism. The project was supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, through a Mads Øvlisen Postdoctoral Fellowship. Copenhagen 1888: Den Franske Kunstudstilling focused on the examination of archives, including the Carl Jacobsen Correspondence Archive, and resulted in a number of academic publications as well as an international conference in Copenhagen October 2021.

In 2021 the Glyptotek displayed a research-based special exhibition about the sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen. The exhibition was at the heart of work by the postdoctoral researcher Emilie Boe Bierlich, who investigated the links between the work of Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen and the identity and collections of the Glyptotek. Her major public commissions, extensive range of motifs, huge international success and remarkable personal story made Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen a great source of inspiration for generations of Danish sculptors and other artists which will hopefully eventually give her the place in art history that she deserves. Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen was active at the same time as the founder of the Glyptotek, Carl Jacobsen (1842-1914). The two of them shared the 19th century’s fascination with antiquity, which in different ways became crucial for both the artist’s oeuvre and large portions of the Glyptotek’s collections.

The research and exhibition was funded by the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Foundation. From 2015 to 2018 the Glyptotek carried out The Digital Glyptotek project, which investigated the place, potential and weighting of digital media in a museum context. The project also examined when and how digital technologies enhance the museum experience and its public engagement activities. It was also a focus of the project to incorporate digital solutions in a sustainable way, in tandem with the organisation’s framework, resources and working practices.

From 2013 to 2018, the Glyptotek crutinized the French artist, Edgar Degas (1834-1917) and his working methods in the fields of drawing, graphic art, painting and sculpture. Some of the research findings were presented in the form of an exhibition, an international seminar and publications, and most recently in a PhD thesis accepted by the University of Copenhagen in 2018.

The Glyptotek’s researchers
The Glyptotek’s researchers gather new knowledge about the museum collection. Read more about the researchers and their current research projects and publications here.

 

The Library

The Glyptotek possesses a research library which is open to the public. In addition to serving the museum’s archaeologists, art historians and conservators, the library is aimed especially at students and researchers within the fields of Egyptology, Classical Archaeology and the History of Art.

First and foremost, the collection of books contains museum publications such as object and exhibition catalogues from museums all over the world and comparable collections, but also monographs, conference reports and numerous periodicals dealing with Egyptology, Classical Archaeology and Danish and French Art of the 19th century.

The books in the library are not to be removed from the premises, but may be consulted in the museum’s reading room. Nor is it possible to make photocopies.

Library opening hours

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10am. – 4pm.
Friday 10am. – 3pm.

Please note that the library will close at 15:00 on Wednesday, March 20th and at 14:00 on Thursday, March 21st, 2024.

The library is closed on Mondays and public holidays – as well as Friday following Ascension Day, Constitution Day and between Christmas and New Year.

Entrance to the library: Tietgensgade 25.

You can search for literature in Bibliotekets database.

Biblioteket på Glyptoteket

The organization

At this page you can find the organizational structure of the Glyptotek, find staff information and contact details

Collection

The Glyptotek’s superlative collection contains over 10,000 works of art and archaeological objects

History

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek was founded by the brewer, Carl Jacobsen (1842-1914), who was one of the great industrial magnates of the 19th century