She was born the daughter of a
Lutheran nobleman,
Axel Adlersparre, governor of
Öland, and Carolina von Arbin, and displayed a talent for painting in childhood. When the artist C. F. Pedersen became shipwrecked near her home, she was taught by him, and when her family moved to Stockholm in 1830, she was educated by the artists
Carl Gustaf Qvarnström (1810–1867),
Johan Gustaf Sandberg and
Olof Johan Södermark (1790–1848). She debuted in 1836 when Crown Princess,
Josephine of Leuchtenberg, the future Queen of Sweden, ordered a painting from her and introduced her to useful contacts. Adlersparre made several trips to study art abroad, to Germany, Italy and France. In 1839–1840, she studied under
Leon Coignet in Paris, where she met
Carl Wahlbom and
Per Wickenberg. When she returned to Sweden, she opened a drawing school, where
Amalia Lindegren was among her pupils. In 1845, the Queen financed her continued studies in Paris; in 1845–1846, she studied in
Dresden, where she was inspired by J. C. Dahl and
Caspar David Friedrich and copied older paintings, and in 1851–1855 she was given state support to study in
München,
Bologna,
Florence and Rome. In Rome, she was a member of the Swedish artist colony and made contact with the German artist colony and the
Nazarene movement under
Friedrich Overbeck. She also converted to Catholicism and painted
Pope Pius IX. Her paintings reflected the Romantic style of the era, though she was also much influenced by the
Renaissance artist
Raphael. In 1855, Adlersparre made a visit to Sweden, where her works were exhibited in the Royal Palace. In 1862, she returned permanently to Sweden and was granted a pension from the
Litteratörernas och Artisternas pensionsförening. She died shortly after receiving the first payment. The same year, her brother's wife, the
feminist Sophie Adlersparre, demanded that women should be able to study art at the
Royal Swedish Academy of Arts on the same terms as men. This demand was met in 1864. ==Gallery ==