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A Section of the Via Sacra, Rome (The Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian)

ca. 1814–15
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 806

In Rome, between 1813 and 1816, Eckersberg produced a series of urban prospects remarkable for their scrupulously simple compositions and saturated hues. These studies were painted in repeated sittings before the motif in order to faithfully reproduce the effects of the Mediterranean sun on architectural ensembles. This friezelike view depicts the fourth-century Temple of Romulus and Remus, which forms the vestibule of the sixth-century Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian. Eckersberg later installed his Roman views in the apartment he occupied at Charlottenborg Palace, Copenhagen, where they proved a revelation to his younger contemporaries.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Section of the Via Sacra, Rome (The Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian)
  • Artist: Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (Danish, Blåkrog 1783–1853 Copenhagen)
  • Date: ca. 1814–15
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 12 3/8 x 17 1/8 in. (31.4 x 43.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Funds, 2012
  • Object Number: 2012.25
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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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
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

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