INTERIOR. The walls are covered with the coats of arms of knights of the Order of the Seraphim, founded in 1336. On the ceiling and in the chapels are flags, standards and other trophies from the campaigns of the Swedish kings. The floor is covered with gravestones. In the choir, in front of the high altar (1679), are the tombs of Kings Magnus Ladulas (d. 1290) and KarlKnutsson (d. 1470). To the right is the funerary chapel of Gustavus Adolphus (Gustavianska Gravkoret) with a green marble sarcophagus. He was killed in the battle of Lutzen in 1632. Opposite, the Caroline Chapel (Karolinska Gravkoret, 1671-1743) contains the tombs of Charles XII (d. 1718) and Frederik I (d. 1751). Adjoining Gustavus Adolphus’s chapel is the Bernadotte Chapel (Bernadotteska Gravkoret), with the massive red porphyry sarcophagus (middle, rear) of KarlXIV Johan (d. 1844) and in front of it, the sarcophagus of his wife, Desideria (d. 1860); other tombs in this chapel include that of Gustav V (1858-1950). In the S aisle are the chapels of the Counts of Vasaborg and the Swedish field marshal, Johan Baner (d. 1641). In the N aisle, to the left of the entrance, are the chapel of the Counts of Torstensson, the chapel of General
Wachtmeister (d. 1652) and the two chapels of the Counts Lewenhaupt.
To the N of Staden lies the large district of NORRMALM, reached via the Noorbro. Immediately over the bridge is Gustav Adolfstorg (equestrian statue of Gustavus Adolphus, 1796). The Crown Prince’s Palace (1783) on the left has been occupied since 1906 by the Foreign Ministry. On the right, with a view of Strommen, is the Opera House, and, beyond this, St James’s Church (Jakobs-kyrka, 1643; tower 1735). To the N extends a series of public gardens, with Kungstradgarden and statues of Charles XII and, pointing to the E, Charles XIII
SE of Gustav Adolfstorg, at the southern tip of the peninsula of BLASIEHOLMEN, is the National Museum, with Sweden’s finest art collection, including not only pictures and sculpture but graphic and applied art.
The “picture gallery contains works by Dutch masters, including major works by Rembrandt (Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis, his largest picture after the Night Watch, and The Painter’s Cook), Rubens (Bacchanale and Sacrifice to Venus) and Frans Hals the Elder (Fiddler). Also included are many works by 18th c. French painters, a collection equalled only in Paris and London (including Boucher’s Triumph of Venus); and modern Swedish painting, including fine works by D. K. Ehrenstrahl, Alexander Roslin, Carl Larsson, Bruno Liljefors, Anders Zorn and Prince Eugen.
