View from the Artist's Window

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Artist: Martinus Rørbye (Danish, 1803–1848)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 38 × 29.8 cm
Museum: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
Rights: Public Domain Mark

In the 1820s and 1830s, Golden Age painting was closely linked to the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen. The artists depicted a world that was familiar to themselves and to their clients. This is very much true of this painting, which shows the view from the artist's parents' home looking out towards the harbour of Copenhagen. He has devoted more or less equal attention to the windowsill with its sun lit arrangement of flowers and to the harbour with its ships and cranes disappearing in the mist.

He was also keenly interested in the sunlight falling through the window. The artist is drawing on a symbolism prevalent in the literature of his day which links the motif of an open window to the contrast between the familiar safety of home and the alluring, but perhaps also slightly dangerous world outside. It is no coincidence that he chose to paint a view of a harbour where ships can whisk the spectator away to unknown countries.