Jacob Kornerup

[1] Born into a well-to-do Roskilde family, he matriculated from high school in Roskilde before attending the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1847 to 1853, winning the Grand Silver Medal.

His acquaintance with the archeologist Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae encouraged him to become involved in the restoration of historical buildings in collaboration with the National Museum, leading to hundreds of drawings and watercolors which are now in the museum's archives.

His drawings of Jellinghøjene (the burial mounds of Jelling) which he drew while working with Worsaae and Christian Herbst can be seen in his Kongehøiene i Jellinge (1875).

[2][3] While his restoration work did not meet today's exacting standards, it nonetheless benefitted from his artistic background and his growing knowledge of archeology.

Settling in Roskilde in 1855, he also took an active interest in the preservation of the city's other historic monuments.