C.W. Eckersberg
I hope you all have a great Sunday. As you might have read 4 days ago, this month, thanks to Europeana every Tuesday and every Sunday we will be featuring spectacular artworks from cultural institutions across Europe. If you haven't read it 4 days ago, swipe left and see beautiful flowers created by Slovakian modernist, Zoltán Palugyay! Each work, whether it’s an instantly recognisable masterpiece or a little known but unforgettable treasure, was shared by a European country as part of the Europeana 280 campaign. The campaign celebrates Europe’s shared art heritage by exploring the diverse and magnificent artworks that have contributed to it.
Before the 1820s, young Danish artists had been unable to receive painting lessons at the Royal Danish Academy of Art, which only offered courses in drawing. However, with inspiration from France, Eckersberg, a professor at the Academy, helped develop a painting program. From 1833 on, the students were even given the opportunity to paint studies of female models. Eckersberg’ would position the model for his students and often joined them in painting the model. Usually, he would finish his work by placing the model in intimate scenery so that the study was transformed into a depiction of an everyday situation. The model is a Florentine woman and was Eckersberg’s favourite model at the time. She can be recognized in several of his nude studies.