A View through Three Arches of the Third Storey of the Colosseum

1815 · Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

landscape

During his years in Rome from 1813 to 1816, Eckersberg painted a large number of pictures of the city's ancient ruins, particularly the old amphitheatre the Coliseum. He painted many views from the inside of the building, and here he has taken up position on the third storey, painting the view through three arches there. Eckersberg began his open-air painting, previously unknown within Danish art, while in Rome, completing the painting on site.

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A View through Three Arches of the Third Storey of the Colosseum

About the Artist

Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg

1783 – 1853

Danish painter. After being trained in Copenhagen and studying in Paris (1810-13) under Jacques-Louis David, he continued his studies in Rome (1814), where he executed a masterly portrait of his friend Thorvaldsen (Royal Academy, Copenhagen, 1815). Returning to Copenhagen in 1816, he occupied himself mainly with portraits, minutely rendering the features of his models with a Neoclassic feeling for c1arity and purity of line. He also painted many landscapes, however (as he had done in Rome), and as an influential teacher at the Copenhagen Academy (from 1818) he introduced painting from nature into the curriculum. He also executed some religious themes and subjects from Danish history in Christiansborg Palace. His pupils included Johan Christian Dahl and Christen Købke . He has been called 'the father of Danish painting' because of the influence he exerted on Danish painters in the second quarter of the 19th century. With Christen Købke he was the leading painter of the Danish 'Golden Age' (c. 1800-1850).

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