Portal:Denmark/Selected article/Week 11, 2008

Statues by Bertel Thorvaldsen depicting Jesus and the Apostles

The Church of Our Lady (Danish: Vor Frue Kirke) is the cathedral of Copenhagen. It is situated on Vor Frue Plads and next to the main building of the University of Copenhagen.

The present day version of the church was designed by the architect Christian Frederik Hansen in the neoclassical style and was completed in 1829.

The building measures 83 m in length and 33 m in width. The interior of the nave is 60 m long and over 25 m from floor to ceiling. With all galleries open, the church can seat more than 1100 people. The tower is 60 m high and houses the four church bells (Stormklokken weighs 4 tons and is the largest bell in Denmark. The smallest bell in the tower, used at morning service among other occasions, is the oldest bell in the country, dating from 1490 and taken from Antvorskov Klosterkirke).

The pediment is decorated with bronzes of Jesus and the Apostles. The interior is likewise decorated with the twelve apostles, Jesus and an angel, all in Italian marble. All of these sculptures were completed in Rome by the famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.

In the aisles, a bronze bust of Bertel Thorvaldsen, modelled by Herman Wilhelm Bissen, is on display along with many portraits of bishops and deans.