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The City Hall was meant to house the City Council of the capital and be
democratic, even though the form of government of the time was a far cry from
the present perseption of democracy.
The painter, who more than any other left his brushwork for posterity in the
building, was the decorative painter Jens Moller-Jensen, and the story of how he
got the assignment is characteristic for the spirit behind Martin Nyrop’s
approach to architecture.
Jens Moller-Jensen had attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in
Copenhagen and afterwards studied fresco technique in Italy, so he had something
in his portfolio to show the head architect who said: »Travel round Denmark and
look at mural paintings!«, which was what Jens Moller-Jensen did after a trial
period at the drawing office.
On his return a year later, Nyrop had a wall whitewashed, so the young hotspur
could prove his talents. Nyrop found the result satisfactory, so Moller-Jensen was
hired, and his work can be admired all over inside the big building, on stairways
and above doors, featuring Danish botany and sea flora in muted colours and
black scrolls. And sculptor Anders Bundgaard supplied roof tops and façade
corners with fantastical and realistic figures alike.
To Nyrop and his fellow artists the ornamentation was not only intended for
daily enjoyment but also signalled a political purpose. Technology is meant to be
used in modern construction, but the almost naturalistic patterns in stone, glazing
and colour wash were intended to be a new democratic convention, here at the
turn of a new century.
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