Ship's figurehead, Kronborg Castle Museum, Helsingnor, Denmark
Kronborg Castle is the castle that was the setting for Shakespeare's play 'Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'. The castle dates back to a fortress, Krogen, built by King Eric VII in 1420, and would have been well known to Shakespeare, who wrote Hamlet around 1600. The castle was strategically important since it occupies the narrowest point between Denmark and Sweden and controlled the entrance to the Baltic Sea from 1429 to 1857 with million ships passing through the sound and paying a toll to the castle during this time period. In Hamlet the town of Helsingor becomes Elsinore. King Frederick II converted the medieval fortress to a magnificent castle between 1574 and 1585, a few years before Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. The play has been performed many times in the castle, with famous actors such as Lawrence Olivier, John Gielgud and Christopher Plummer. The castle is a UNESCO heritage site. The ship's figurehead is located in the castle museum. The background has been darkened and simplified to show off the figure better.
Size: 3600px × 2400px
Location: Kronborg Castle museum, Helsingor, Denmark
Photo credit: © Terry Allen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1574-1585, 3, 1420, blond, breastplate, castle, denmark, elsinore, eric, figurehead, fortress, foward, frederick, hair, hamlet, helmet, ii, king, krogen, lions, long, museum, reaching, scandinavian, shakespeare, shield, skirt, vii, woman
