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View from the Fontana Acetosa, Rome
C.W. Eckersberg (Danish, 1783–1853)
1814-1816
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- height 25.5 cm, width 44.5 cm, height 38.8 cm, width 56.6 cm
- Culture
- Danish
- Museum
- SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark: SMK waives its rights in this photograph, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
About this work
During his time in Italy, Eckersberg painted practically no landscapes in the strict sense of the term. The closest he came to a proper landscape was this study, painted north of Rome at Acqua Felice, which commanded wide views across the Tiber, the Campagna and Monte Soracte. Several artists depicted the view from here, including Camille Corot, Carl Rottmann and Constantin Hansen. Unlike these painters, however, Eckersberg let the fountain itself frame the view. The prominent vertical and horizontal lines lend the relatively nondescript landscape a firm structure – entirely in keeping with the principles of Eckersberg’s art in general. Taking such a low-lying point of view limited his overview of the landscape, for which reason he departed from his usual approach: here he does not use diagonal lines to lead our eyes towards the background, but instead relies entirely on aerial perspective to create a sense of depth, with the colours gradually changing in the background.
