Although he was the son of a grocer, by age ten the talent of Otto Bache (1839-1927) had been rewarded with a place at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Furthering his study with a scholarship to Paris and later Italy, Bache’s style became infused with European cultural trends, although he never lost sight of the Danish National Romanticist trend throughout his oeuvre, illustrating historical scenes, cosmopolitan cityscapes, peasant depictions and animal life. His conservative choices earned him continued recognition with the royal family and a long-standing association with Frederiksborg Castle; his historical depictions were especially central to the visualisation of Denmark’s royal and political legacies. By 1880, he was professor and then director of the Danish Academy, highlighting his rise through aristocratic commissions, prolific exhibiting and his own Academic training, coming to play a defining role in the visual culture of Denmark in the second half of the nineteenth century.