Festsalen Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Foto: Kim Nilsson
New Carlsberg Glyptotek
The Glyptotek is an oasis in the heart of Copenhagen. Just a hundred metres from Copenhagen Main Station the visitor can leave the noise of the street and the raucous crowds enjoying the pleasures of Tivoli Amusement Park and step into the museum’s relaxing atmosphere, surrounded by palms, marble, and – not least – art from several millennia, in world class.
An Unparalleled Collection
The museum houses more than 10,000 works and constitutes a window on more than 6,000 years of art in world class as well as providing an insight into the history of our civilization. Every year visitors pour in to experience the Glyptotek’s unparalleled collection of Egyptian tomb treasures and mummies, sculpture from Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, and, not least, the collection of French masterpieces by such artists as Gauguin, Monet, Degas and Rodin.
Special Exhibitions
Every year the Glyptotek presents major, internationally-recognised special exhibitions with loans of works from other leading world museums. With creative presentation grips the stories unfold of the gods and heroes from antiquity, the pharaohs of Egypt and the greatest talents within impressionism in new ways that draw a line from past to present.
Vinterhaven Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Foto: Kim Nilsson
A Wealth of Architectural Detail
Behind the Glyptotek as it appears today have been three of Denmark’s most skilled architects: Vilhelm Dahlerup, Hack Kampmann and Henning Larsen. Both internally and externally the Glyptotek is a profusion of details which sets the eye wandering between glass domes, marble columns, exquisite mosaic floors, carved handles and decorated ceilings.
More Than Just a Museum
The museum café Picnic serves modern food, the coffee is freshly roasted and ground, and everything has been carefully thought out.
Every Thursday the museum is open until 9.00 p.m. and on certain evenings the Glyptotek is transformed into a house of culture filled with music, light, talks guided tours and nice cool beer.
When the weather gods permit it the Glyptotek opens its roof terrace from where there is a magnificent view of Copenhagen’s parks and towers.
A Little History
The Glyptotek was founded by brewing magnate Carl Jacobsen (1842-1914). He was a passionate collector who, with the income from his brewery, Ny Carlsberg, created an unparalleled collection. In 1888 Jacobsen donated his art collection to the nation and began the construction of the Glyptotek. A further donation, this time of the industrialist’s extensive collection of art from antiquity, followed in 1899, which led to a marked expansion of the newly-opened museum. The Glyptotek has been open to the public since 1897.