Portrait of Elseberg Herrestvedt by Adolph Tidemand

Full artwork / 1600 x 1708 px

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Norwegian National Romanticism

SP / TIDEMAND-ELS

Portrait of Elseberg Herrestvedt

Elseberg Herrestvedt turns upward against a dark ground, with a white regional headdress, silver fasteners and a red inscription making identity materially specific.

Living Canvas / Visual evidence

Portrait of Elseberg Herrestvedt: Meaning, Symbols and Visual Analysis

Five regions connect Elseberg Herrestvedt's named identity to gaze, headdress, clothing, silver ornaments and painted inscription.

Date: 1871
Museum: National Museum of Norway
Palette

Evidence 01 / Meaning2.15x

01 / 05

Research note: The museum identifies the sitter as Elseberg Herrestvedt and dates the work to 1871. Museum source

What remains debated

Evidence has limits.

Regional dress is important to the portrait, but costume should not replace the sitter's individual identity. The visible name, directed gaze and specific facial description keep Elseberg Herrestvedt central.

Questions about this painting

Meaning without a thin page

What should I look at first in Portrait of Elseberg Herrestvedt?

Begin with the upward gaze redirects the portrait, then compare it with the white headdress frames the face and dark clothing gives the bust a single mass. The sequence moves from visible structure toward interpretation.

What does Portrait of Elseberg Herrestvedt mean?

Verify / 02

Verify the object record

Titles, dates, media, dimensions, institutional identifiers and retained sources remain separate from interpretation so each fact can be checked independently.

Record completeness

Research ready

100%

Primary title: Portrait of Elseberg Herrestvedt
Original title: Portrait of Elseberg Herrestvedt
Creator: Adolph Tidemand
Date: 1871
Movement: Norwegian National Romanticism
Object type: Painting
Medium: Oil on canvas mounted on fibreboard
Dimensions: 23.5 × 22 × 0.4 cm
Holding institution: National Museum of Norway
Current location: National Museum of Norway, Oslo
Accession number: NG.M.00302-004
Credit line: Testamentary gift from the artist, received 1882
Attribution: Adolph Tidemand
Digital image: 1600 × 1708 px

Record control

Status: verified
Last verified: 2026-08-08
Verified by: SeePaintings editorial verification
Internal ID: tidemand-elseberg-herrestvedt

The National Museum of Norway object record and reproduction were matched to the pilot master by aspect ratio and structural image comparison before publication.

Open museum record

Provenance note

Received in 1882 as a testamentary gift from Adolph Tidemand.

Marks and inscriptions

The sitter's name, the place name Herrestvedt and the date 1871 are painted in red at lower left.

Verification note

Titles, dates, materials, dimensions, inventory numbers and acquisition statements follow the museum's current online object record. Norwegian material wording is normalized in the separate medium and support fields.

References

01Portrait of Elseberg Herrestvedt · National Museum of Norway

Image use and download

Work: public-domain
Digital image: terms-review-required
Checked: 2026-08-08

The underlying artwork is public domain; rights or attribution conditions may apply to the museum's digital reproduction.

Use the museum object page to confirm current download and attribution terms before reuse.

Image source Download / IIIF

Compare / 03

Compare evidence, not just images

Set this work beside a related painting to test differences in date, artist, movement, subject, palette and visible evidence.

Open side-by-side comparison

formal contrast

Self Portrait in a Straw Hat

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun · 1782

Dress, naming and female portrait identity

The pairing tests how costume and inscription produce identity in portraits made for different social contexts.

Compare this pair

Learn / 04

Follow this painting through the knowledge graph

Continue through artist, movement, subject, emotion, color and visual-analysis methods. Each destination adds independent context instead of repeating the same interpretation.

Analyze this painting Elements of art Composition guide Portraits Women in Art portrait women Norwegian dress headdress inscription Norwegian art

Historical significance

Why this work still matters

The portrait joins individual likeness to nineteenth-century Norwegian dress and naming practices without reducing the sitter to an anonymous national type.

Detail coordinates

Look more closely

01Follow the upward direction of the eyes and head.
02Compare the white headdress with the dark bodice.
03Read the red name and date at lower left as evidence inside the painting.

Reuse / 05

Turn the record into a usable result

Carry the verified object identity into a citation, classroom worksheet or source trail. Reuse means research, teaching and creative reference, not merely downloading an image.