Martinus Rørbye was in Jutland five times, and two of the times he was also on Samsø: in 1845 and in 1847. This study is from his visit in 1847. He lived for a few weeks from late August to early September with his wife’s sister Cathrine, who was married to a man named Fasting, the rural dean at Besser Church where this study was created. Here, Rørbye has spent a summer’s day in the dark room of the church porch and looked out towards the bright, sun-drenched space in front of the church. The weather was good that summer, and Rørbye's joy of painting was great. In this particular work, he has worked very consciously with the interaction between light/shadow and the exterior/interior.

Thorvaldsen, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Martinus Rørbye no. 239.

Kunstforeningen, “Fortegnelse over M. Rørbyes arbejder” (a list of the works of M. Rørbye) in the section of “Fortegnelse over malerier, hvis ejere eller hvis opbevaringssted er ubekendte” (a list of the works whose owners or location are unknown) 1905 nr. 204, reproduced p. 84.

Literature: Thorvaldsens Museum, exhibition catalogue, “Martinus Rørbye 1803–1848”, 1981, mentioned p. 185 and reproduced p. 184.

Provenance: The artist's estate auction 1849 no. 78. Here purchased by Count Danneskiold-Samsøe.

Art dealer Martin Grosell, his estate auction Winkel & Magnussen 114 (part III), 1932 no. 147.

Cecilie Brandt, the daugther of iron founder K. Brandt (her collection mentioned in “Kunst i Privateje”, 1945, vol. III, pp. 288–290). Thence by descent.