Prince Christian Frederik (1786-1848) became King Christian VIII of Denmark in 1839. His accession to the throne took place at the end of Denmark's 'Golden Age' -- a period haunted by national bankruptcy but, notably, due to a few men of vision also a period in which painting, poetry and science developed intensively. Because of his intelligence, energy and patronage of the arts, King Christian VIII became one of the entrepreneurs of Danish cultural life. After his death in 1848, the King's collection became state property and was transferred to the National Museum. In 1998, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the King's death, the National Museum arranged a symposium where a series of papers were presented about the King as a collector and about the importance of the collections. This book, lavishly illustrated with photographs of the collection and other artefacts, contains the symposium papers, which have been revised and expanded.