In April 2013 the Royal Armoury opens the exhibition “Images of Christina”. The exhibition focuses on perceptions and interpretations of Queen Christina, from her time to the present.
Few persons in history have been so talked about and indeed, controversial and debated, and images of the 17th century Swedish queen are as shifting as they are contradictory.

Queen Christina was a person that constantly broke the norm as a monarch, as a person and as a woman. Her abdication, her conversion to Catholicism and “male” behaviour provoked strong emotions. Her history has been written and re-written, discussed and commented on. Even Christina herself contributed to creating her image.

She has been described as everything from a hysteric to a traitor to her country, and in our time as a “Queer Queen” and a tolerant European. Without question she was a cultural visionary. Her unconventional lifestyle and behaviour has been featured in countless novels and plays, and in opera and film.

In a unique collaboration with the Vatican library, the Royal Armoury will exhibit a number of unique books from Queen Christina’s famous manuscript collection.