I. C. Dahl (b. Bergen 1788, d. Dresden 1857)
Prince Christian Frederik (1786–1848) later Christian VIII and Princess Caroline Amalie (1796–1881) with entourage on an archaeological excursion outside Rome. 1821. Unsigned. Drawing ink, pencil and wash on paper. Sheet size 437×562 mm. Motif 292×438 mm. Collector's mark on the back. Unframed.
Kursiv: A previously unknown and quite unusual drawing by the landscape painter J.C. Dahl (Johan Christian Dahl).
Its unusualness comes from being a large, yet elaborate, figure composition. A group portrait of the Danish Prince Christian and his wife Caroline Amalie with their entire entourage on an archaeological excursion outside Rome. The landscape painter Dahl has reduced the landscape and Rome's profile to background décor for the large and complex group of figures in the foreground.
Prince Christian Frederik, later Christian VIII, was a learned person and with abilities and interests within both art and science. In May 1819, the Prince and his wife Caroline Amalie embarked on a long-lasting Grand Tour of Europe, visiting countries such as Germany, France, England, Italy and others. The travel party left Copenhagen in four carriages and arrived in Rome on 23 December, accompanied by an entourage of 30 people. Archaeologist P.O. Brøndsted (1780–1842) and Baron Herman Schubart (1756–1832), both of whom resided in Italy, at once paid their respect and offered their service to the royal travellers. Schubart was a Danish diplomat and Denmark's trade intendant in Italy from 1803. His home in Montenero in Livorno was a favourite meeting place for painters, the literati and other artistic minds. Schubart was the friend and patron of Bertel Thorvaldsen and had a crucial role in the sculptor's career in Italy.
On 11 May 1820, the royals left Rome and travelled to Naples as guests of Ferdinand I, where they lived at the Quisisana country estate at Castelmare, Naples.
From Quisisana, the Prince wrote a letter to J.C. Dahl, who was living in Dresden at the time. In the letter, Dahl was invited to come to Italy and stay at Quisisana as a kind of unofficial court painter. The prospect of a professorship at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and a travelling scholarship was mentioned. Beautiful Italy, with excursions to archaeological excavations, trips to important private and museum collections, contacts to a number of important artist colleagues, possible commissions for paintings and not least all the new motifs that would be within reach, have all most likely also been attractive possibilities for the painter. Therefore, Dahl left Dresden on 13 June 1820 to join the royal travel party. During Dahl's stay in Italy, the Prince commissioned several large and significant works with the artist.
Safely arrived in Italy, Dahl executed on 14 September 1820 a drawing depicting Christian Frederik, Caroline Amalie and their entourage on an excursion to Monte Sant'Angelo (catalogue no. 44, Bodil Sørensen, 'J. C. Dahl. Tegninger fra Italia-reisen 1820–1821', 2004. The drawing is today located at the National Museum in Oslo. Inv. no. NG.K&H.B.08036–016). Reproduced p. 27.
In the drawing, the Prince and Princess, as well as Baron Herman Schubart appear as prominent figures in the foreground. The same figures also appear in the present drawing.
In December 1820, the royal travel party and the entourage were back in Rome, where they went on several outings and archaeological excursions, etc.
In a report to Copenhagen from December 1820, Brøndsted wrote about the planning of the royal excursions, arranged jointly with the Italian archaeologist and archivist Antonio Nibby (1792–1839), who worked for the Vatican on excavating the many monuments from antiquity in and around Rome (in Danish): “His Royal Highness, the Prince, begins his excursions next week, where he will be accompanied by Nibby and myself, in the old and new parts of Rome. According to the provisions of His Royal Highness, this endeavour will be divided into 24 excursions and will surely be undertaken with the eagerness that His Royal Highness is known for.“ (Ida Haugsted, ”Italiens smukkeste Egn" (Italy's Most Beautiful Region), 2003, p. 148).
Dahl writes the following in his diary on 17 February 1821: “Saturday the 17th has been spent with Prince C. – and the rest of the travel party in Tivoli – had great fun. Saw the waterfalls of Neptune’s Grotto, the ruin of Horace’s Villa – gardens with pretty cypresses and the view from Villa d’Este – back in the evening at five – to a banquet at Prince C.”
The motif and the occasion of the present drawing are thus both described, and an interpretation and identification are possible:
The royals and their entourage are on an excursion with Brøndsted and Antonio Nibby, and the location is outside the city walls of Rome. The city itself is summarized in the background and the topography is not quite right. However, it is enough to get a sense of being in Rome. An Italian military man pictured in the bottom left-hand corner vouches for the safety of the guests. In the opposite corner, surveyors are in the process of mapping out the fields of excavation – illustrated by the squaring of the terrain, and on the far-right in the drawing, behind the back of a woman at the edge of the travel party, we see an excavation in progress.
The three central figures can now with great likelihood be identified with the help of a.o. the drawing from September 1820 of the trip to Monte Sant'Angelo. The Prince stands in the centre with an arm raised and pointing, to the left of him is the Princess with her umbrella, on the right side, slightly bent forward and with a map in his hand we most likely see Baron Schubart and finally with his hat in his hand and to the left of the princess we find the archaeologist Antonio Nibby. There are about 300 drawings from Dahl's Italian journey in different museum collections, distributed in museums in Oslo (271), in Bergen (12) and in Copenhagen (6). These approximately 300 drawings form an almost complete collection of Italian drawings. (Bodil Sørensen, “J. C. Dahl. Tegninger fra Italia-reisen 1820–1821”, 2004, p. 15, note 7. 2.). Thus, there are hardly many Italian drawings left in private ownership.
The present drawing differs from the other drawings in the motif and the high degree of thoroughness in execution, but it is otherwise stylistically and technically identical to the best of Dahl's Italian drawings.
Provenance: Acquired in 2015 at a Swedish auction house as 'Artist unknown', first half of the 19th century' by a private Danish collector.
Condition report on request. Please contact: fine-art@bruun-rasmussen.dk
Please note: The item is subject to the Anti-Money Laundering Act. In the event of a hammer price of DKK 50,000 or more, including buyer’s premium, the buyer must submit a copy of a valid photo ID and proof of address in order to collect the item.
Paintings and drawings, 26 November 2019
Not sold