Queen Christina was a fascinating person whose life was also quite exceptional. At the age of six, she became queen-elect on the death of her father at the Battle of Lützen. Her mother was neurotic and the regency led by Oxenstierna was faced with the difficult task of educating her to be ruler. Christina was trained with care and she turned out to be a brilliant and determined student. There seemed to be no limit to her desire for knowledge.
When Christina came of age and ascended the throne, Sweden was reaping the fruits of the Thirty Years' War. It had become a European superpower. Her personal position, however, was uncertain. After the long period of regency, the political and economic power had passed to the nobility. Christina was averse to marriage and there was no incontestable heir to the throne. A return to an aristocratic electorate was close at hand when she imposed her will on the Parliament of 1649-50. She chose her cousin, the Count Palatine Charles Gustav as her successor. Christina had consolidated her position and finally took over the reins of the Kingdom. She had not yet been crowned but organized a grand coronation in Stockholm in 1650.
The privy council was bewildered when the following year Christina announced her intention to abdicate. The real reasons for her decision were kept secret, but she felt that her destiny was not confined to the rule of the remote country of Sweden. She was ardently interested in philosophy, religion, a peculiar and profound mixture of the New Platonism, mathematics, metaphysics, alchemy and the Christian mysticism popular in the culture of the 17th century. She invited many famous, often Catholic scholars to her court and in their company she began increasingly to suffer from the narrow-mindedness and restrictive ambience of her own country and of Lutheran orthodoxy. Christina believed that by renouncing the throne and stepping into the bosom of the Catholic Church she could achieve the position she wanted - that of cultural and political leadership in Europe.
David Beck painted his large, symbolic portrait of Christina in 1650, the year she was crowned. The Queen, wearing a light, classic satin gown is standing in a garden. She has a letter in her right hand that is resting on a stone ball and her left hand is on her shoulder holding a scarf that is fluttering in the wind. There is a fountain in the background with a golden apple of the Hesperides whirling in the water spray. A statue of Pan, the spirit of nature, dominates the view to the right. Karl Erik Steneberg has construed the meaning of the allegory that the elements form together. Although the overall composition of the portrait is Beck's own, based on models taken from Van Dyck, there is no doubt that the Queen herself took part in formulating the symbolic message. Steneberg suggests that the poet and philosopher Georg Stiernhielm also had a hand in the composition. The message behind the portrait well reflects Christina's view of herself and her destiny on the eve of her abdication: the stone ball, the fountain and the scarf represent the elements of nature - earth, water and air. It would appear that fire is missing from the portrait, but Christina herself represents fire, - the soul that illuminates and dominates the other elements. Christina is the spirit of divine wisdom, Sapientia, to which the golden apple refers, guiding nature and the world.
The Christina portrait in the Sinebrychoff collection appears to be a high-quality altered copy of David Beck's original. Perhaps it dates back to the first half of the 18th century like its frame. The version of the portrait that is considered to be the original is in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. In that one, the upper portion has been cut so that the golden apple in the Sinebrychoff version that is also mentioned in a 17th century description of the portrait has been left out. Instead, Christina is wearing a garland of orange blossom and oleander supporting the allegorical symbolism of the portrait. In the Sinebrychoff version the garland has been replaced by a crown. The concept of the original portrait can only be construed by combining the elements of the different versions.
The portrait belonged to the famous private museum of Christian Hammer in Stockholm. He tried to auction it in Cologne in 1893, but could not get the price he wanted. In 1899, Paul Sinebrychoff discussed buying the Christina portrait and six other portraits from Hammer. Before making his final decision, Sinebrychoff indirectly asked Henryk Bukowski's opinion as to whether the portrait in the Nationalmuseum was the best Christina portrait by Beck, followed by the half-length portrait which Sinebrychoff himself bought from Bukowski in 1895 and finally Hammer's portrait which also I have had a chance to see (...) perhaps Mr Hammer's portrait was not by David Beck at all . Bukowski replied that he thought Hammer's portrait was a copy. Surely Mr Hammer did not claim that it was an original ? Whereupon Sinebrychoff politely called off the deal with Hammer.
After Christian Hammer died in 1905, Paul Sinebrychoff again became interested in the portrait. The Christina portrait was auctioned in September 1905 and the Sinebrychoffs travelled to Stockholm to be present at the sale. After competitive bidding, Sinebrychoff had to pay 4 360 crowns for the portrait. Osvald Sirén, who had just returned from Florence, commented on 25 October 1905:
... you had to pay a high price for the portrait. In my opinion, it is of lower quality than the one in the Nationalmuseum, more coarsely painted and reddish. But it will undoubtedly be a very interesting piece in your collection.
David Beck Christina, Queen of Sweden