The Arch of Titus in Rome
Constantin Hansen (Danish, 1804–1880)
1839
- Medium
- Oil on paper, mounted on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- height 24 cm, width 29 cm, height 33.3 cm, width 38.2 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 Rome Constantin Hansen painted oil studies in the open air to provide variety in between his more complex figure compositions. Outdoors, he was free of any constraints concerning his contemporaries’ expectations as regards motif, method of painting, and composition. An unconventional angle One of his freest and most original studies is this picture of the Titus Arch near the Forum Romanum. He depicted it from a rather unconventional angle. The arch is not seen from the front, but from the side, thereby dramatically shortening the façade. The picture does not give a representative view of the building, meaning that it was not a travel or tourist picture intended for audiences back in Copenhagen. It is a study done exclusively for the artist’s own sake. Influenced by Eckersberg The picture shows clear signs of the influence of the Roman architectural studies done by C. W. Eckersberg (1783-1853), Constantin Hansen’s teacher. Here, however, Hansen went further than Eckersberg ever did. He completely disengaged the architectural form from the function and significance traditionally associated with a building. A break with the norms The colour scheme also…
