Born in Liepāja (formerly Libau, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire) to Danish parents, Ejnar Dyggve studied at the Polytechnic and at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, graduating as an architect (Egger 1961: 378).
Working as an architect between 1918 and 1928, he developed an additional scholarly interest in architectural history and ancient monuments. His technical training moreover shaped his archaeological methodology, particularly his focus on architectural analysis, topography and reconstruction of ancient structures (Egger 1961: 378) (Kacunko 2014: 6). He collaborated closely with several renowned scholars of classical archaeology, including Frederik Poulsen and Konstantinos Rhomaios, and participated in numerous international research projects and excavations (Chantraine 1962: 99).
Associated with the Ny Carlsberg Foundation and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, he taught the history of classical and medieval architecture and later served as director (Egger 1961: 378) (Chantraine 1962: 99). He was a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belle-Lettres, corresponding member of the Accademia dei Lincei, and the Charles et Marguerite Diehl Prize in 1960 (Chantraine 1962: 100). He died in Copenhagen on 6 August 1961, shortly before his seventy-fourth birthday.
His early fieldwork focused on the sanctuary complex of Kalydon in Aetolia, resulting in Das Heroon von Kalydon (1934) and Das Laphrion: der Tempelbezirk von Kalydon (1948), co-authored with Poulsen and Rhomaios (Egger 1961: 379) (Chantraine 1962: 99). His most influential work concerned Late Antique and early Christian architecture, in the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean.
From 1922 onwards, he participated in excavations in Salona (modern Solin near Split) in Dalmatia, documenting the site’s urban topography, Christian cemeteries and basilicas (Dyggve 1951, 1957) (Egger 1961). From these investigations emerged also a series of influential works including the study on the necropolis of Marusinac, and the evolution of Christian basilicas culminating in the volume History of Salonitan Christianity (1951) (Lemerle 1955; Kacunko 2014).
Dyggve developed influential theories about the origins of Christian architectural forms, proposing that early basilicas evolved partly from funerary monuments and martyr shrines and were also influenced by imperial ceremonial architecture. He moreover introduced the concept of the basilica discoperta, a roofless funerary basilica surrounding a cult tomb, which he considered an important precursor to the later Christian basilica (Lemerle 1955).
Another major aspect of his work explored the relationship between imperial palace architecture and Christian liturgical space. He further argued that ceremonial halls of imperial palaces, such as those of Thessaloniki, Ravenna and Split, influenced the spatial organization of early Christian churches (Lemerle 1955). He also conducted research in Rhodes (Lindos), Aquileia, and Cividale (Egger 1961).
Although primarily affiliated with Danish institutions, Dyggve’s work connected closely to the Norwegian Institute in Rome. He collaborated with Hans Peter L’Orange, the Institute’s founding Director, on research concerning Late Antique imperial architecture and Mediterranean monuments, and their shared interests influenced the Institute’s early research projects. After Dyggve’s death in 1961, his wife, Ingrid Dyggve, divided her husband’s library between the Danish Academy and the Norwegian Institute in Rome (L’Orange 1969: 30).
Dyggve’s books and offprints preserved at the Norwegian Institute in Rome reflect his scholarly interests in architecture, archaeology, and the study of Late Antiquity more generally. Of particular interest is his carefully bound and classified offprint collection. His research on Thessaloniki (Akrivopoulou 2017) and the Tempietto longobardo in Cividale (L’Orange 1977) is closely connected with the intellectual community of the Norwegian Institute in Rome, offering insight into his collaborations with Scandinavian and international scholars in the Mediterranean.
Fondo Ejnar Dyggve: ca. 4000 books.
Bibliography
Selected Works
Dyggve, Ejnar. 1934. Das Heroon von Kalydon. Levin & Munksgaard.
_________. 1943. Dødekult, kejserkult og basilika: bidrag til spørgsmålet om den oldkristne kultbygnings genesis. Det filologisk-historiske samfund.
_________. 1941. Ravennatum Palatium Sacrum: la Basilica ipetrale per cerimonie. Det Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab.
_________. 1948. Das Laphrion: der Tempelbezirk von Kalydon. E. Munksgaard.
_________. 1951. History of Salonitan Christianity. Aschehoug.
_________. 1957. “Nova basilica discoperta y Solinu.” Peristill 2: 57–61.
Secondary Literature
Akrivopoulou, Sofia. 2017. “Norwegian Institute in Rome: Thessaloniki, 1939 Expeditions (E.Dyggve) Rotunda, Kamara, Hippodrome and Galerius Palace. Catalogue of Photos 78/1000 - 78/1561.”
Chantraine, Pierre. 1962. “Ejnar Dyggve (1887-1961).” Revue archéologique 1: 99–100.
Egger, Rudolf. 1961. “Ejnar Dyggve.” Memorie storiche forogiuliesi 44: 378–81.
Kacunko, Slavko. 2014. “Great Dane Meets Dalmatian: Ejnar Dyggve and the Mapping of Christian Archaeology.” Quadratura 1: 2–39
Lemerle, Paul. 1955. “Ejnar Dyggve et l’archéologie chrétienne.” Byzantion 25/27: 375–82.
L’Orange, Hans Peter. 1977. Il Tempietto longobardo di Cividale. Acta ad archaelogiam et artium historiam pertinentia. Vol. 7.
_________. 1969. ‘Roma og det norske Roma-institutt’. In Det norske institutt i Roma for arkeologi og kunsthistorie. Institutum Romanum Norvegiae (...) Instituttets innvielsesfest i eget hus 13. og 15 oktober 1962, 24–31. [Universitetet i Oslo].