Exhibited: Foreningen for National Kunst, “Carl Bloch”, 1969 no. 24.

Literature: Kunst i Privateje, vol. III, 1945, p. 248.

Provenance: County medical officer J. A. Jørgensen (1945, 1969).

The present painting is a preliminary work for the mural “Hans Tausen beskytter Bisp Joachim Rønnow” (Hans Tausen protecting bishop Joachim Rønnow) from 1876, which can be found in the ceremonial hall at the University of Copenhagen. It was originally Wilhelm Marstrand (1810–1873), who was given the task of decorating the ceremonial hall with historical scenes, but when he died in 1873, Carl Bloch was entrusted with the task of carrying out and completing the paintings. This resulted in the two large paintings “Hans Tausen beskytter Bisp Joachim Rønnow” and ”Kong Jacob af Skotland besøger den unge Tycho Brahe” (King Jacob of Scotland visits the young Tycho Brahe), which he painted in the years 1875–78. In 1889–90, he painted another painting for the hall; ”Biskop Brochmand lader den unge Peder Schumacher give prøve på sin lærdom for Kong Frederik III” (Bishop Brochmand lets the young Peder Schumacher test his learning for King Frederik III).

Hans Tausen was a Danish clergyman (1494–1561) and one of the central figures behind the Reformation in Denmark. Because of his sermons on the Lutheran doctrine, he met great opposition from the Roman Catholic community in Denmark, but he also gradually gained greater and greater support from the population, and in 1526 he came under the king's protection when he was appointed Frederik I's (1471–1533) chaplain. When Frederik I died in 1533, Tausen was brought before the Council of State and accused of libel and heresy by the Danish bishops in a process led by Bishop Joachim Rønnow (c. 1495–1542). Tausen was sentenced to banishment from Zealand and Scania and was subject to censorship and a ban on preaching, which caused an uproar among the Protestant citizens of Copenhagen.

Carl Bloch has depicted the dramatic riots after the sentencing at Copenhagen City Hall, where Tausen must protect Joachim Rønnow, his own judge, from the angry Copenhageners, when the bishop is going home to the bishop's palace.