The Mortal Remains of Swedenborg 57 



Principia Reruni Naturalium of 1734, (PI. V.), Beander's portrait in the 

 Northern Museum (Nordiska Museet) in Stockholm (PI. VI.), which pro- 

 bably was the basis for the so called »Bed-chamber portrait» and nu- 

 merous other copies and engravings, and the famous portrait by Pehr 

 Krafft, Sr., in the Gripsholm collections. (PI. VII.). Both the last- 

 named date back to the period just before 1770. Less well known is 

 a portrait existing in at least two copies at Upsala and Gothenburg, 

 respectively, which is supposed to be attributable to Sir Joshua Reynolds. 

 (PI. VIII., fig. 1). Furthermore, there are two portraits in Stockholm, 

 not before reproduced, namely a crayon by an unknown artist, in the 

 Northern Museum, (PI. VIII., fig. 2), and an oil-painting, signed »L. B.», 

 belonging to Director E. Rosenlind. (PL VIII., fig. 3). Finally, there 

 exists a portrait by de LoutherbourCt, owned by C. B. Bragg, Esq., 

 of Birmingham. (PI. VIII., fig. 4). As all these portraits possess a cer- 

 tain value for the question which at present engages us, and since it 

 seems, even for other reasons, to be of interest to have all the known 

 original portraits of this great man collected in one place, they have 

 here been reproduced in phototype in the plates at the close of this 

 work. More detailed information concerning the above portraits is 

 communicated in the supplementary list of portraits of SA^^:DENBORG by 

 Mr. A. Stroh [Appendix, No. 16), where also are reproduced as text- 

 figures two other portraits, which, being rather doubtful, and moreover 

 dating from'= Swedenborg's younger days, are not of the same interest 

 for the question in hand as the above-mentioned portraits. 



Even a hasty glance at the portraits before us shows that they 

 exhibit important differences, partly of such a character that they can 

 not be explained by the supposition that the paintings date from diffe- 

 rent periods of Swedenborg's life, but must undoubtedly depend either 

 upon defective ability on the part of the artists, or else that they, con- 

 sciously or unconsciously, have accentuated special features at the 

 expense of others. To give but one example of such divergences be- 

 tween the different portraits it may be mentioned that the color of the 

 eyes on the copies of Reynolds' portrait is brown, but on all the rest, 

 blue.i It is of course impossible to decide which of the portraits most- 



1 .Just as contradictory, for that matter, are, on this point, the statements by Swe- 

 denborg's contemporaries. .J. C. Cdno, of Amsterdam, speaks of »his smihng bhie eyes» 32 

 (Vol. II., p. 445), while Shearsmith asserted that they were »of a brown-grey, nearly hazel 

 and rather small,» 10 (p. 196) or »grey, approaching to brown» 32 (Vol. II.. p. 55o). 

 Perhaps it is most probable that they were of an undecided, shifting color. 



Nova Acta Reg. Soo. So. Ups. Ser. 4. Vol. 2. N. 9. Impr. '^/u 1910. 8 



