Source:
Memoirs of celebrated female sovereigns, volume 1, pages 44 to 47, by Anna Brownell Jameson, 1831
The biography:
The next event of importance was her coronation, which was celebrated at Stockholm with the utmost pomp and solemnity, on the 20th of October 1650. On this occasion Christina's love of classical antiquity induced her to give her people the novel spectacle of a Roman triumph, as described in Plutarch. Crowned with laurels and sparkling with jewels, she paraded the streets of her capital seated in a car [carriage] drawn by four white horses; her treasurer marched before, scattering medals among the populace, and the heralds proclaimed her, according to the custom of the country, KING of Sweden. The festivities continued for several days, during which shows were exhibited to the people, and masques, ballets, and banquets daily took place at court; there were also reviews, mock fights, riding at the ring, and other military sports, at which the queen distributed the prizes; and Prince Charles and the young Landgrave of Hesse were particularly distinguished by their gallantry, the splendour of their habits, and the number and magnificence of their retinues. But that which caused the greatest delight and astonishment, was a glittering triumphal chariot, which moved along the arena upon hidden springs; and in the same manner an artificial mountain forty feet in height, representing Mount Parnassus, was seen to glide self-impelled before the wondering spectators, while on its summit a company of musicians, habited as Apollo and the Muses, filled the air with harmony; orations in almost every known language were pronounced, celebrating the greatness, the virtues, the charms, and the learning of the queen; and a lofty pyramid, which according to a pompous (and lying) classical inscription, was erected to the honour of Christina by Antiope, Penthesilea, and Thalestris, the three queens of the Amazons, was constructed as a memorial of these festivities.
The character of these exhibitions sufficiently indicates the taste which had for a long time prevailed in the court of Sweden; after the year 1648, we find Christina almost entirely devoted to study and literature, even to the exclusion of the duties and cares of government. She carried on a diligent correspondence with many of the most eminent literati of Europe; among others, with Gassendi, Menage, and Blaise Pascal, names still celebrated; she was surrounded by learned men, soi-disant philosophers, and professors in every branch of science, whom she attracted to her court by gifts, by pensions, or by promises, and whose interested and extravagant flattery completely bewildered a head already half turned by vanity, unrestricted power, and indulged self-will. She collected manuscripts, books, and medals, and sent commissioners into Italy and other countries to purchase pictures, sculptures, and other rarities of art; these pursuits, in themselves praiseworthy, were carried to an excess which rendered them ridiculous and blameable. Not having herself the experience or taste to which she pretended, she was pillaged and cheated to an incredible extent; it is said, that at the instigation of one of the antiquarian pedants in her court, she offered 30,000 florins for a bronze medal of Otho; on another occasion, when some fine and valuable pictures arrived from Italy, this Queen of the Goths had them cut down to a uniform size to fit certain panels in one of the royal apartments.
Above: Kristina.
Above: Anna Brownell Jameson.
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