Portrait of the Gottrup family

The portrait shows Danish-born Lauritz Christensen Gottrup (1648–1721), who settled in Iceland in 1684 at Þingeyrar, a residence that prior to the Reformation had been the site of a monastery. Gottrup brought an extended family group with him to Iceland that included his mother Mette and younger sister and brother. His wife was a Danish immigrant to Iceland, Catharina Christiansdatter (1666–1731), who had come to Iceland as a single woman to live with her relative, Christoffer Heidemann. The portrait was painted in Denmark and depicts the Gottrups and their four children: son Johan Christoffer and their daughters Mette Maria, Magdalena and Anne Sophia. Mette Maria Gottrup left for Denmark as a child in 1701 and never returned, but other family members remained in Iceland. The portrait dates from 1701 at the earliest and has an elaborate carved and painted frame, with a memorial inscription to Lauritz and Catharina. The portrait hung in the church at Þingeyrar from at least 1725 and now forms part of the permanent exhibition of the National Museum.