Sample collection on women migrants at the Þjóðminjasafn Íslands (Reykjavík, Iceland) below
See more on our catalogue
Collection title: Málverk af Gottrup fjölskyldunni | Portrait of the Gottrup family (Iceland: c. 1701–1725)
Description: 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.
Archive address: Suðurgötu 41, 102 Reykjavík
Reference number: ÞÍ 4676/1900-9
Links: The catalogue of the National Museum of Iceland is searchable online. Additional images of the portrait can be viewed on the catalogue website.
Publications: Gunnar Hannesson and Þóra Kristjánsdóttir, “Málverkið af Lauritz Gottrup lögmanni og fjölskyldu hans,” Saga 47.1 (2009): 7–12.
Contributor: Katelin Parsons
Sample image: Copyright National Museum of Iceland. Used with permission
