Loading

Carrying themselves like Roman goddesses, but dressed in red and white, the peasant girls walk through a Danish summer landscape. It is evening, the cows have been milked, and the Danish countryside is looking its best. Behind the ripe golden fields the cows rest next to a barrow, and the ocean can be glimpsed in the background.

A patriotic image of Denmark

The painting encapsulates the patriotic image of Denmark prevalent in the late Golden Age of Danish art. A dream or vision of coherence, clarity, and close affinity with one’s family and nation as main elements. It also imbued everyday life with a sense of the sacred with the motherand-child theme, with the metal rings of the buckets becoming haloes.

The Danish depictions of rural life

The picture speaks of the connection between man and nature and the presence of the divine in nature. The thought behind Danish depictions of rural life originally was that artists would venture out into the countryside painting scenes from everyday life in order to qualify themselves to depict edifying events from Danish history. However, only few clients wanted Danish gods and heroes. Instead artists such as Sonne, Christen Dalsgaard, and Frederik Vermehren sought to upgrade the scenes of rural life, turning it into contemporary history painting by idealising and heroising the rural population.?

Details

  • Title: Rural Scene
  • Creator: Jørgen V. Sonne
  • Creator Lifespan: 1801 Birkerød - 1890 København
  • Creator Nationality: Danish
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: København
  • Creator Birth Place: Birkerød
  • Date Created: 1848
  • Værktekst: Med en holdning som romerske gudinder, men klædt i rødt og hvidt, bevæger bondepigerne sig gennem et dansk sommerlandskab. Det er aften, køerne er malket, og det danske landskab viser sig fra sin bedste side. Bag den fuldmodne kornmark hviler køerne ved siden af en stendysse, og i baggrunden skimtes havet. Det nationalromantiske Danmarksbillede Maleriet sammenfatter senguldalderens nationalromantiske Danmarksbillede. En drøm eller vision om sammenhæng, overskuelighed og nærhed med familien og nationen som de bærende elementer. Men der sker også en sakralisering af hverdagslivet omkring moder-barnmotivet, hvor spandenes metalringe kommer til at fungere som glorier. Det danske folkelivsmaleri Billedet fortæller om sammenhængen mellem menneske og natur og det guddommeliges tilstedeværelse i naturen. Tanken bag det danske folkelivsmaleri var oprindeligt, at kunstnerne ved at drage ud i landet og male folkelivet skulle kvalificere sig til at male opbyggelige begivenheder fra Danmarks historie. Men kun få efterspurgte danske guder og helte. I stedet forsøgte kunstnere som Sonne, Christen Dalsgaard og Frederik Vermehren at opgradere folkelivsmaleriet til et samtidigt historiemaleri gennem en idealisering og heroisering af landbefolkningen.
  • Teknik: Olie på lærred
  • Proveniens: Køb 1989
  • Provenance: Acquired 1989
  • Physical Dimensions: w96 x h120.5 cm (Without frame)
  • Dansk link: http://www.smk.dk/index.php?id=2678
  • Dansk Titel: Landlig scene
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: Statens Museum for Kunst, http://www.smk.dk/en/copyright/creative-commons/
  • Medium: Oil on canvas

Additional Items

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Flash this QR Code to get the app
Google apps