Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson is a bronze portrait statue outside Oslo’s National Theatre, to the right of its main entrance. The figure faces outward in an open pose, presenting the writer as an engaged public personality. Henrik Ibsen stands opposite, and together the sculptures frame the theatre’s entrance.
Stephan Sinding completed the monument in 1899, for the National Theatre’s opening. Both statues originally stood farther away on tall granite pedestals, before moving closer in 1978. Lower pedestals now bring the bronze figures nearer to people passing through this central Oslo setting.
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson was a writer, politician, social critic, and nation builder who lived from 1832 to 1910. Norway protected the statue and its granite pedestal as cultural heritage in 2018. Malcolm Lowry also placed the sculpture in Oslo’s literary landscape through his novel Ultramarine.
- City
- Oslo
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