An Officer in the Service of a King and an Emperor

The National Museum of Finland 20.11.2009 – 30.1.2011

G. M. Armfelt, at the age of 44, Joseph Grassi, Berlin 1799–1801. Photo: The National Board of Antiquities/Markku Haverinen

 

Lesser costume of the Royal Order of the Seraphim. Sewn in Sweden in 1791. Photo The National Board of Antiquities/Markku Haverinen

Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt (1757–1814) is one of the most colourful characters of Finnish history. His fate led him from the battlefields and courts of Europe to a dismal small town in South Russia. Armfelt was also one of the best-known Finns of his time, whose achievements were noted in the newspapers of Stockholm and Paris alike. He had an exceptional role as the guest of royalty and princely hosts in Europe. During his lifetime, he met or was personally acquainted with a stunning number of heads of state and other leading personages of the period.

Wanted – Armfelt exhibition features over a hundred items personally owned by G. M. Armfelt, providing a glimpse of his world, whether in Stockholm, in exile in Italy, banished to Kaluga in Russia, as a minister to the court in Vienna, or at his home, Joensuu Manor, in Halikko, SW Finland.

The exhibits include numerous decorations, the large and small costumes of Sweden's Royal Order of the Seraphim and a warrant issued in 1794 for the arrest of Armfelt. His wedding ring and miniature portraits of his wife Hedvig and children Augusta and Gustav Magnus tell of his family. On display are trunks, cutlery, a dinner service with motifs of the Danish Royal Order of the Elephant made by Josiah Wedgwood's pottery works, a breakfast service of the Vienna Porcelain Factory, furniture, and portraits, including Josef Grassi's paintings of G. M. Armfelt and Vilhelmina, Duchess of Sagan.

Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt 1757–1814 Curriculum Vitae (.pdf)

For more information on the exhibition, please contact Curator Jouni Kuurne, exhibition scriptwriter, tel. (09) 4050 9310, jouni.kuurne (at) nba.fi and exhibition secretary Hanna Forssell, tel. (09) 4050 9553, hanna.forssell (at) nba.fi.

Press Service

Bookings for guided tours, Tue-Fri 9 a.m. - 12 Noon, tel. + 358 (0)9 4050 9552.

Additional information of guided tours 

Exhibition "Wanted – Armfelt. An Officer in the Service of a King and an Emperor" is on display in rooms 131-132 on the first floor of the museum from, between 20.11.2009 and 30.1.2011.

Opening times 

Listen to Armfelt!

G. M. Armfelt and a warrant printed in Stockholm in 1794. Photo: The National Board of Antiquities / Markku Haverinen / Tomi Nikander.

Items presented in audio guide are marked with a star in the exhibition rooms.
Larger map

You can download the audio guide of the "Wanted – Armfelt"-exhibition before visiting the museum. Audio guide describes the main twelve exhibits or exhibit groups.

Each item presented is marked with a number and a star symbol.

Duration of the audio guide is approximately 30 minutes.

Audio guide to the exhibition "Wanted – Armfelt"

• Download the audio guide into your mp3-player or computer (.zip).

Listen now or download one by one each item presented on the audio guide.

• Introduction and instructions
• Item number 14 - Dinner service of the order of the Elephant
• Item number 67 - Bust of Maria Carolina, Queen of Naples
• Item number 15 - Sepia wash “Blind Oedipus embracing his children."
• Item number 48 - The small costume of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
• Item number 49 - Warrant for the arrest of Armfelt
• Item number 55 - Portrait ”Armfelt with his son Gustav Magnus Armfelt”.
• Item number 52 - Trunks and travel accoutrements
• Item number 71 - Pair of pistols
• Item number 81 - Oil painting Three "Gustavians"
• Item number 86 - Sabre pouch 
• Item number 105 - Miniature portrait of Emperor Alexander I
• Item number 127 - Game table

Narrators: Sanna-June Hyde (English), Ella Pyhältö (Finnish), Mia Renwall (Swedish).

• Audioguide in Swedish
• Audioguide in Finnish 

Where is the Princess of Couronia?

Wanted – Armfelt -game

In the entrance hall you can play the Wanted – Armfelt -game. In this game you have to find the Princess of Couronia, who has disappeared on her travels in Europe. While looking for her, you will follow in the footsteps of Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt. On the board are the cities where he lived between 1799 and 1811.

Game is temporarily not in use.

Richly illustrated book complements the exhibition

Gustaf Mauritz Armfeltin perintö -richly illustrated book with over 400 pages.

Sabre pouch, 1803. Photo: The National Board of Antiquities/Markku Haverinen

A complementary feature of the exhibition is the richly illustrated book Gustaf Mauritz Armfeltin perintö. G. M. Armfeltille kuuluneet esineet Suomen kansallismuseon kokoelmissa by Jouni Kuurne on the Armfelt Collection.

Jouni Kuurne

Gustaf Mauritz Armfeltin perintö

G. M. Armfeltille kuuluneet esineet Suomen kansallismuseon kokoelmissa

English summary 39 pages

Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt's legacy  

The objects formerly belonging to G. M. Armfelt in the National Museum of Finland

The book is on sale in the Museum Shop, price € 65. 

Museum Shop

The National Museum of Finland, Mannerheimintie 34, Helsinki.
Entrance fee 2010: 7,00/5,00 euros, persons under 18 free of charge.

Open in 2010: Tue 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wed-Sun 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mon closed.

Bookings for guided tours, Tue-Fri 9 a.m. - 12 Noon, tel. + 358 (0)9 4050 9552. Bookings one week in advance.
Tickets, tel. + 358 (0)9 4050 9544 during opening hours.
www.kansallismuseo.fi