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View of Kronborg from the Coast North of Helsingør (Elsinore)

Johan Thomas Lundbye Danish

1848

Not on view

In the winter of 1848 Lundbye traveled to Helsingør, on Zealand’s extreme northeastern tip. This watercolor shows Kronborg Castle—immortalized in Shakespeare’s "Hamlet" and one of the most recognizable buildings in Denmark. Built during the Renaissance, the castle was highly valued as a coastal fortification at the entrance into the Baltic Sea. Many artists during this period depicted the castle as a monument of Danish cultural heritage, but Lundbye instead placed the northern coast, with its beach, brush, and barren trees, in the foreground and silhouetted the castle against a sea of blue.

View of Kronborg from the Coast North of Helsingør (Elsinore), Johan Thomas Lundbye (Danish, Kalundborg 1818–1848 Bedsted), Pen and gray and black ink, brush and watercolor — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: View of Kronborg from the Coast North of Helsingør (Elsinore)

Artist: Johan Thomas Lundbye (Danish, Kalundborg 1818–1848 Bedsted)

Date: 1848

Medium: Pen and gray and black ink, brush and watercolor

Dimensions: Sheet: 5 9/16 × 10 11/16 in. (14.2 × 27.2 cm)
Frame: 16 3/4 × 23 1/16 × 1 3/16 in. (42.6 × 58.6 × 3 cm)

Classification: Drawings

Credit Line: SMK – The National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

Accession Number: Danish.027

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How Ink Drawings are Made

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How Watercolor Drawings are Made

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