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The Harbor of Copenhagen from the Esplanade between Langelinie Park and Toldboden or the Customs House

1809
Not on view
During his time as a student at the Royal Academy, Eckersberg supported himself by making drawings of well-known locations in Copenhagen. In this view he filled the harbor with ships of all kinds, many proudly flying the Danish flag. The profusion of ships belies the utter devastation of Denmark’s navy and merchant fleet as a result of bombardment by the British in 1807. When this drawing was made, in fact, the Kingdom of Denmark was actively fighting the British in the Gunboat War and the nation was plunging toward bankruptcy. None of this turmoil is evident in Eckersberg’s idyll, in which fashionably dressed civilians, watched over by a lone soldier, seem to be at peace and prosperous. The only vestiges of war are the battery of cannons lining the promenade.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Harbor of Copenhagen from the Esplanade between Langelinie Park and Toldboden or the Customs House
  • Artist: Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (Danish, Blåkrog 1783–1853 Copenhagen)
  • Date: 1809
  • Medium: Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash, over graphite; verso: graphite; framing line in pen and black ink
  • Dimensions: sheet: 13 1/4 x 18 3/16 in. (33.7 x 46.2 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 2007
  • Object Number: 2007.256
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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The Sword of Damocles; verso: Sketches of Man's Head and of a Figure with a Raised Arm, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Danish, Pen and black ink, over graphite
The Sword of Damocles; verso: Sketches of Man's Head and of a Figure with a Raised Arm
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
1805
View of Charlottenborg Palace in Copenhagen with the Old Botanical Garden and Figures, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Danish, Pen and gray ink, gray wash, and graphite; an incised construction line at lower left
View of Charlottenborg Palace in Copenhagen with the Old Botanical Garden and Figures
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
ca. 1838–1841
The Surviving Horatian, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Danish, Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash; framing lines in pen and black ink, by the artist
The Surviving Horatian
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
first half 19th century
Linear Perspective, Applied to the Art of Painting: A Collection of Studies in Perspective, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Danish, Eleven etched plates
Linear Perspective, Applied to the Art of Painting: A Collection of Studies in Perspective
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
1841
A Section of the Via Sacra, Rome (The Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian), Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Danish, Graphite, brush and gray wash, framed with graphite and brush and blue watercolor
A Section of the Via Sacra, Rome (The Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian)
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
1814–15

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