拍品專文
The Golden Age of Danish Painting inspired many Danish artists to become introspective, focusing on their own country as subject-matter.
This nationalistic era, however, spanning from approximately 1820-1850 and concurrent with the similarly themed Biedermeier Period in Austria and northern Germany, had its roots in travel. The acknowledged 'father' of the Golden Age, Christopher William Eckersberg, was the first Danish artist to paint in Rome outdoors in 1813. On his return to Denmark in 1816, he became professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. This brought him the opportunity to teach his principles to his eager students, Rørbye amongst them. These included incorporating the artists' personal experiences into their paintings as well as meticulous attention to detail.
Martinus Rørbye looked elsewhere for inspiration, spurred by his 'constant wanderlust' (K. Monrad, Danish Painting The Golden Age, London, 1984, p. 79), as well as his desire to witness and record foreign and exotic cultures.
1834 was the beginning of an extensive tour of Europe by Rørbye which took him to Paris, Rome, Greece and Turkey. His visits to Athens and Constantinople, as well as their environs were particularly significant as he was the first Danish artist to visit these countries. His works from these regions received a great deal of notice and attention on his return to Copenhagen in 1837. After seeing an exhibition of his work in 1838, a critic working for 'Dansk Kunstblad' said 'Truly, the quantity and beauty of what his brush has elicited from nature are so great that one scarcely knows where to begin and where to end in order not to omit something splendid.' (K. Monrad, op. cit., p. 179).
The present work is a superb example of his close observation of other cultures but, although foreign in content, there is much that places it firmly within the Danish artistic traditions of the period, such as the brilliant colouring and precision of detail. He records in his diary on the 10 January 1836 the time he spent at the mosque in Tophane; 'I spent almost the whole day drawing, first a little while in a Greek coffeehouse, and from there I went down to the mosque in Toppana. Now that I am used to it, the people don't bother me so much, and since I do not understand what they say, I often feel quite alone even with thirty people around me.'.
Rørbye left Constantinople on 31 December 1836, returning to Rome to complete the picture. Capturing the details, however, became increasingly frustrating for him. '13th January 1837: The turkish carpet in my painting makes my head spin. I need all my patience to cope with it.
'24th January 1837: I have so many visitors that I hardly can get anything done, but fortunately I can see an end to my work on that difficult turkish carpet.
'1st February 1837: For use in my painting, today I bought pigeons on the Pantheonsquare and that lasted almost the whole morning.
'21st March 1837: My mood was not better today than it was yesterday, when the draperies in my painting brought me almost to despair.'
This carpet is particularly rare, both in its age and design. It dates from the beginning of the sixteenth Century and it is unusual to find such a carpet in a nineteenth century picture as artists would usually depict carpets contemporary with the period. This one, a northwest Persian Medallion Carpet, possibly Tabriz, with spiral arabesque field and a strapwork border, belongs to an important group although this particular one appears to be unrecorded. A close example known as the Count Welczek Carpet was formerly in the Berlin Museum, although it was lost during World War II (see K. Erdmann, Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets, London, 1970, p. 138 (illustrated)).
Rørbye was also fascinated by Turkish costume. He had sent a letter to the Academy from Constantinople which illustrated the enthusiasm he felt: 'no costumes can be more beautiful to an artist than the Turkish ones, for they unite the greatest stylistic purity with splendor' (B. von Folsach in the catalogue of the exhibition By the Light of the Crescent Moon, Copenhagen, 1996, p. 50). His love of this costume is visible in the precision with which he painted the notary's shawl, a Termeh, which was very popular in the late eighteenth century.
Other subtle references are further testament to the time Rørbye spent studying and observing his surroundings: the 'Bismilah' is inscribed above the doorway in Kufic script. The document pinned to the carpet depicts the Royal Ottoman cipher, and is probably the notary's licence to practise.
Rørbye's knowledge of the Turkish language manifests itself in a charming riddle within the picture, understood only by those familiar with Turkish and the Islamic dating system. The figure on the left holds a purse, which is inscribed with the Islamic date 1251, which translates into 29 April 1835-18 April 1836, the period during which the creation of this picture was conceived.
The high esteem in which this painting was held is evident as it was already in the Prime Minister's personal collection before it was exhibited at Charlottenborg.
There is a watercolour version of the same subject dated Rom 1836, in the Kobberstiksamling, Statens Museum fur Kunst, Copenhagen.
This nationalistic era, however, spanning from approximately 1820-1850 and concurrent with the similarly themed Biedermeier Period in Austria and northern Germany, had its roots in travel. The acknowledged 'father' of the Golden Age, Christopher William Eckersberg, was the first Danish artist to paint in Rome outdoors in 1813. On his return to Denmark in 1816, he became professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. This brought him the opportunity to teach his principles to his eager students, Rørbye amongst them. These included incorporating the artists' personal experiences into their paintings as well as meticulous attention to detail.
Martinus Rørbye looked elsewhere for inspiration, spurred by his 'constant wanderlust' (K. Monrad, Danish Painting The Golden Age, London, 1984, p. 79), as well as his desire to witness and record foreign and exotic cultures.
1834 was the beginning of an extensive tour of Europe by Rørbye which took him to Paris, Rome, Greece and Turkey. His visits to Athens and Constantinople, as well as their environs were particularly significant as he was the first Danish artist to visit these countries. His works from these regions received a great deal of notice and attention on his return to Copenhagen in 1837. After seeing an exhibition of his work in 1838, a critic working for 'Dansk Kunstblad' said 'Truly, the quantity and beauty of what his brush has elicited from nature are so great that one scarcely knows where to begin and where to end in order not to omit something splendid.' (K. Monrad, op. cit., p. 179).
The present work is a superb example of his close observation of other cultures but, although foreign in content, there is much that places it firmly within the Danish artistic traditions of the period, such as the brilliant colouring and precision of detail. He records in his diary on the 10 January 1836 the time he spent at the mosque in Tophane; 'I spent almost the whole day drawing, first a little while in a Greek coffeehouse, and from there I went down to the mosque in Toppana. Now that I am used to it, the people don't bother me so much, and since I do not understand what they say, I often feel quite alone even with thirty people around me.'.
Rørbye left Constantinople on 31 December 1836, returning to Rome to complete the picture. Capturing the details, however, became increasingly frustrating for him. '13th January 1837: The turkish carpet in my painting makes my head spin. I need all my patience to cope with it.
'24th January 1837: I have so many visitors that I hardly can get anything done, but fortunately I can see an end to my work on that difficult turkish carpet.
'1st February 1837: For use in my painting, today I bought pigeons on the Pantheonsquare and that lasted almost the whole morning.
'21st March 1837: My mood was not better today than it was yesterday, when the draperies in my painting brought me almost to despair.'
This carpet is particularly rare, both in its age and design. It dates from the beginning of the sixteenth Century and it is unusual to find such a carpet in a nineteenth century picture as artists would usually depict carpets contemporary with the period. This one, a northwest Persian Medallion Carpet, possibly Tabriz, with spiral arabesque field and a strapwork border, belongs to an important group although this particular one appears to be unrecorded. A close example known as the Count Welczek Carpet was formerly in the Berlin Museum, although it was lost during World War II (see K. Erdmann, Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets, London, 1970, p. 138 (illustrated)).
Rørbye was also fascinated by Turkish costume. He had sent a letter to the Academy from Constantinople which illustrated the enthusiasm he felt: 'no costumes can be more beautiful to an artist than the Turkish ones, for they unite the greatest stylistic purity with splendor' (B. von Folsach in the catalogue of the exhibition By the Light of the Crescent Moon, Copenhagen, 1996, p. 50). His love of this costume is visible in the precision with which he painted the notary's shawl, a Termeh, which was very popular in the late eighteenth century.
Other subtle references are further testament to the time Rørbye spent studying and observing his surroundings: the 'Bismilah' is inscribed above the doorway in Kufic script. The document pinned to the carpet depicts the Royal Ottoman cipher, and is probably the notary's licence to practise.
Rørbye's knowledge of the Turkish language manifests itself in a charming riddle within the picture, understood only by those familiar with Turkish and the Islamic dating system. The figure on the left holds a purse, which is inscribed with the Islamic date 1251, which translates into 29 April 1835-18 April 1836, the period during which the creation of this picture was conceived.
The high esteem in which this painting was held is evident as it was already in the Prime Minister's personal collection before it was exhibited at Charlottenborg.
There is a watercolour version of the same subject dated Rom 1836, in the Kobberstiksamling, Statens Museum fur Kunst, Copenhagen.