New exhibitions – the University Main Building, Elsa Beskow and Anders Bure
Elevation drawing for the University Main Building, façade facing Övre Slottsgatan. Architect Herman Theodor Holmberg.
Three new exhibitions have opened this spring in the Exhibition Hall at Carolina Rediviva.
The University Main Building in Uppsala – original drawings and sketches
The University Main Building, the principal edifice of Uppsala University, is a cornerstone of the University’s history and cultural heritage and one of the city’s finest landmarks.
A selection of drawings and sketches from the time of the building's construction is now on show in the Exhibition Hall, offering an insight into its architecture, interior design and artistic decoration.
Doctoral research and conservation paved the way
In spring 2025 art historian Anna Hamberg defended her thesis ”Om ett nytt universitet i Uppsala: Tillkomst, gestaltning och performativa rum under 1800-talets tre sista decennier” [“Towards a new university in Uppsala: origin, design and performative spaces in the final three decades of the 19th century.”] As part of the project, many drawings of the building, its furniture and fittings were conserved by the Library’s conservator Carl Krantz. This work made it possible to digitise the drawings and include them in the exhibition.
Curator: Anna Hamberg, PhD in History of Art
The thesis is on sale in the museum shop at Carolina Rediviva.
Further reading:
History of the University Main Building
Universitetshuset, Uppsala (in Swedish, on the website of the National Property Board of Sweden)
Elsa Beskow in our collections
The personal archive of Elsa Beskow, one of Sweden’s most beloved children’s authors, is preserved by the University Library. It contains working papers and sketches spanning her entire creative career. Two cases in the Exhibition Hall now showcase unique sketches, manuscripts and preparatory work for several of her most cherished books.
Snail mother and her little ones (detail), Elsa Beskow.
Orbis arctoi – Bures monumentala kartverk från 1626
Orbis arctoi nova et accurata delineatio is a map of the Nordic region and a milestone in Swedish cartography. It was created by the Swedish cartographer Andreas Bureus (later ennobled as Anders Bure). The map remains on display in the Exhibition Hall. Read more in our earlier news item See Bure’s monumental 1626 map.
