Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg

L. N. Hvidt
Elisabeth Hvidt
Sale: Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen, 13 September 1994, lot 4
Purchased by the present owner at the above sale 

Copenhagen, Copenhagen Kunstforemimgen, C.W. Eckersberg Malerier, 1895
Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, 2003-2004, no. 23

Emil Hannover, C. W. Eckersberg: En Studie i Dansk Kunsthistorie, Copenhagen, 1898,  p. 338, no. 189, catalogued 
Peter Michael Hornung and Kasper Monrad, C.W. Eckersberg - dansk malerkunsts fader, Copenhagen, 2005, p. 166f, illustrated

This condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar, Hamish Dewar Ltd. Fine Art Conservation, 14 Masons Yard, Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6BU. Structural Condition The canvas appears to be unlined with the turnover and tacking edges strengthened with a thin strip-lining. There is a pattern of drying craquelure and slight cupping between the craquelure but the overall structural condition is stable and secure. Paint surface The paint surface has an even varnish layer. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows a few small scattered retouchings which appear to have been applied in 2 different stages. The most significant of these are: 1) a very small area in the upper left of the composition, 2) a repaired fracture in the upper right, measuring approximately 1 cm x 0.5 cms, in the archway, with corresponding resin on the reverse, 3) small areas along and just above the lower horizontal framing edge, and 4) a few scattered spots in the sky. It should be stressed that these retouchings are all very small. Summary The painting therefore appears to be in good and stable condition and no further work is required.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Painted between 1814 and 1816.

'Eckersberg painted several views of the Colosseum while in Rome. His biographer Emil Hannover lists seven in his 1898 catalogue. Considering its small size, the present work might be among the first three canvases the artist had started to paint on the spot, according to his diary of 28 March and 5 April 1815. In 1816 he again recorded that he was working on views from the Colosseum. By this time he may have completed the main composition in this group, View Through Three of the Northwestern Arches in the Third Story of the Colosseum (fig. 1).

The vast ruin [of the Colosseum] was at this time being excavated as part of the plan of Napoleon's occupying forces to restore the city's architectural glories. As can be seen in this little painting, representing a view from the second level of the Colosseum, the picturesque but destructive vegetation on the masonry had been removed. The stones of the arches stand clean and bare, and only on the level ground between them has a little greenery been allowed to grow.

In November the year following Eckersberg's arrival, he again mentioned the Colosseum in a letter to Clemens: "This summer they have completed excavation of the beautiful and still fairly well preserved ancient monument, the Colosseum" (Henrik Bramsen et al., 'Eckersbergs brevkoncepter & dagbog 1813-1816', Meddelelser fra Thovaldsens Museum 1973, Copenhagen, 1974, 70). In doing this, they had revealed the underground structures, with their many systems of corridors. When these started to fill up with water, however, they had to be covered up again in the late summer of 1814. In the same letter Eckersberg described the newly laid out area as a "beautiful subject for a painting I intend to make next summer." Yet in the present work it is not the arena but the apse of the Temple of Venus in front of the church of Santa Francesca Romana that is given prominence, seen through the opening of an arch, while farther off to the right the dome of SS. Luca and Martina is visible.

Eckersberg painted a number of images of the view from just one arch in the Colosseum, and he often used an arch, a door, or an embrasure to frame a scene. Perhaps by fixing his motifs in this way he was able to focus on a comprehensible fragment of the city, out of its virtually incomprehensible profusion of interesting and picturesque buildings and views' (excerpt from Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, 2003-2004, p. 102).


FIG. 1, C. W. Eckersberg, A View Through Three of the Northwestern Arches of the Third Storey of the Colosseum, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen
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