Born in Copenhagen, from an early age he was trained in drawing and painting by his father
P.C. Skovgaard in the
Danish Golden Age tradition and had close contacts with
N.F.S. Grundtvig. He studied at the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1871 to 1876 and attended
Léon Bonnat's school in Paris in the winter of 1880-81 where he was influenced by the trend towards
Realism. In the 1880s, he travelled to Italy and to Greece, where he was accompanied by
Kristian Zahrtmann, developing an interest in
Symbolism. In Rome, he was influenced by the
Impressionist approach to painting taken by
Theodor Philipsen. In 1891, Skovgaard was a co-founder of
Den Frie Udstilling where he subsequently exhibited. From 1884, he experimented with decorating ceramics as can be seen in his dish
Eva med slangen (Eve with the Snake). He designed ceramics for J. Wallmann in
Utterslev where he became acquainted with
Thorvald Bindesbøll. Often depicting animals, his designs later led to sculptures completed together with Bindesbøll, including
Dragespringvandet (1888-1923) and
Bjørnespringvandet (1888-1901) at
Copenhagen City Hall. From 1885, Skovgaard developed religious motifs in his paintings, as in
Kristus fører Røveren ind i Paradis (1890) and
Kristus i Dødsriget (1894). His frescos in Viborg Cathedral took him five years to complete (1901–06), even though he had several assistants. In the medieval tradition, the frescos represent the principal Bible stories from the Old and New Testaments. He later redecorated the church ceiling (1912–13). The frescos in Viborg Cathedral are considered to be one of Denmark's major works of art. ==Awards==