, who created the collection when living in Rome , where the collection was on display 1918–2019 The collection was created by
Christopher Tostrup Paus (1862–1943) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was the largest private collection of classical sculpture in the Nordic countries at the time. Paus was heir to one of Norway's largest timber companies (Tostrup & Mathiesen) and was a papal chamberlain and count, who lived for several years in
Rome, where he acquired the collection with the assistance of several Scandinavian art historians. In the late 19th century, as Italy transitioned from feudalism to a modern economy, Rome's rapid urban expansion and construction uncovered numerous antiques. Concurrently, long-established noble families, now facing financial hardship in this changing society, were compelled to sell their historic collections of these objects. It was also relatively easy to export antique objects from Italy. This situation made it possible for wealthy foreign art collectors – such as Paus and
Carl Jacobsen, founder of
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek – to build extensive collections. During the First World War Paus moved his collection to his Swedish estate
Trystorp and it was later partly moved to his estate
Herresta. Most of the collection was donated by Paus to the
National Gallery between 1918 and 1929. It was intended as the foundation of a Norwegian museum or department of classical sculpture, as Paus wrote in a letter to the government in 1918, and formed the core of the National Gallery's classical sculpture collection. Prior to Paus' decision to donate most of the collection to the National Gallery,
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek had attempted to acquire it. Archaeologist
Siri Sande notes that The bust of
Trajan was given to the National Gallery in 1923 and was the first original Roman imperial portrait in Norwegian ownership.
Samson Eitrem wrote that "it excellently complements the other portraits of the Paus collection, busts which for the most part belong to the earliest imperial period." The collection was on display in the first floor of the old National Gallery building from 1918 to 2019, before the National Gallery moved to the newly completed National Museum building in 2022. Several of the works are from 2022 on display in Room 1 in the new National Museum. Paus was appointed as a Knight First Class of the
Order of St. Olav for services to art museums in 1919 and was later promoted to Commander. Some objects from the Paus collection were also acquired by other museums, including
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. ==Works==