Provenance: Winkel & Magnussen auction 326, 1945 no. 5. Bruun Rasmussen auction 82, 1957 no. 192, ill. p. 120. Bruun Rasmussen auction 93, 1958 no. 1. Bruun Rasmussen auction 112, 1959 no. 1. Bruun Rasmussen auction 261, 1971 no. 1, ill. p. 7. ”House of Danske Bank”. Antiques, art and design from Erichsen’s House and other historic buildings at Holmens Kanal, Copenhagen.

Literature: Charlotte Christensen, “Ossian-illustrationer i Danmark” from “Fund og Forskning i Det Kongelige Biblioteks Samlinger”, no. 19, 1972, mentioned in note 20 p. 31.

Culturally, the romantic undercurrents of the 18th century created a renewed interest in literary works with emotional content, such as the Iliad, the Odyssey, the works of Shakespeare and even the Bible. In the 1760s, “The Poems of Ossian” was added to the series. The Scottish poems told the story of the heroic 3rd-century warrior Ossian.

The poems appear as a translation published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson (1736–1796), although the authenticity of the poems' age and origin has since been questioned and some believe that the publisher Macpherson is actually the author.

Regardless, Ossian's stories caused a national sensation, but the poems were also received with great enthusiasm internationally. Often written with a grandiose and melancholic tone, and containing all kinds of drama, the poems evoked inner images that invited for illustrations.

N.A. Abildgaard didn't have to wait for a Danish translation to start depicting Ossianic themes; he was very fond in the poems and had several translations in other languages, making Abildgaard one of the first artists to illustrate Ossian poems in Denmark.

Abildgaard's fascination with the Scottish hero only impressed a few of his students, however, which is why we do not see many illustrations of the Ossian poems from the early 19th century and forward.

Correction 3 September 2024: The description 'Ossian in his cave' has been deleted, as the figure in the painting does probably not represent Ossian as previously assumed. It has not been possible to find out who the figure then represents.

Bruun Rasmussen would like to thank writer and MA in art history Charlotte Christensen for the above correction.