During the early 17th century, Christian IV, who was the King of Denmark and Norway, ordered the expansion of the Akershus Castle and reconfigured it into the current Renaissance style. He died in 1648, nine years before the castle’s Skarpenord’s Powder Magazine was completed. Embedded above the archway is the monogram of his second eldest son, Frederik III, King of Denmark. The Great Powder Magazine was an armory used to store gunpowder and other weapons. Look closely at the two sandstone reliefs. These mirrored faces are Hannibal Sehested. He was the governor-general of Norway in the mid-17th century before resigning after charges of embezzlement. He later regained favor with Frederick III by negotiating the Treaty of Copenhagen. The agreement restored peaceful relations among Sweden, Denmark and Norway. These carvings were originally created for his unfinished mansion.
