Sophus Schack

Sophus Peter Lassenius Schack (21 January 1811 – 21 April 1864) was a Danish painter and officer who served in the First and Second Schleswig Wars.

Biography Military career Schack was the son of barrister Gregers Schack. He himself had perceived himself in relation to art as a dilettante, but now considered himself an artist, notwithstanding that, despite his diligence, his formation, and his unmistakable love of art, he did not reach any high place. He exhibited partly portraits and genre pictures, partly biblical pictures on topics of the New Testament. His pieces were inspired from Eckersberg's works and was even encouraged by Christian VIII himself. His works are preserved at Kronborg. Schack later published a couple of volumes of Physiognomic Studies (1858–59), in which his best qualities as an artist were associated with a spirited gift of production as a writer.

Personal life and legacy Schack married Vilhelmine Bothilde Olsen (1826-1900) in 1853, daughter of Colonel and cartographer Oluf Nicolai Olsen. Their daughter Laura Cathrine Marie Schack married the painter Ole Pedersen on 28 November 1890 in Copenhagen.

He was buried in Garrison Cemetery. There is a self-portrait from 1859 (formerly in Johan Hansen's collection), a pen drawing by Vilhelm Rosenstand ( Camp scene ) 1863 (Frederiksborg Museum), a portrait of the woodcuts Fallen Officers in 1864 and Fallen at Dybbøl, a woodcut drawing in 1864 by Henrik Olrik and a Lithograph in 1867 by Edvard Fortling.