Christian IV's Chapel
Construction of the chapel was ordered by Christian IV himself in 1613, after the death of his Queen Anne Cathrine the year before, and upon realising that space inside the cathedral was running out. Built in Dutch Renaissance style, work on exterior of the chapel was begun in 1614 by Lorenz van Steenwinckel and completed in 1641 by his brother, Hans van Steenwinckel the Younger.The exterior was constructed in red brick with a corbie stepped gable facing north. On each of the gable steps, a sandstone figure is placed, representing each of the Christian virtues. Next to the gable's windows, four putti are placed, each holding up one of the symbols of death: a skull, a scythe, a torch pointing downwards, and an hourglass.
Upon the death of Christian IV in 1648 the interior had not been completed, and the king's coffin was placed in the crypt below instead. The king had commissioned his own monument, depicting him and his queen kneeling before a crucifix, but since it had been completed before his death, the monument had been temporarily placed in storage in the king's arsenal. When the arsenal burned in 1647, all that remained of the monument was the grand sandstone crucifix and a head carved from alabaster. The crucifix was subsequently placed in the Church of Holmen, while the head was given to the National Museum of Denmark. The king's successors were each unable to provide a fitting resting place for the king, and it was not until 1840 and Christian VIII that work was finally begun. He had hoped to see the project finished by 1848, the 200th anniversary of Christian IV's death, but it was not until 1870 that the work was complete