21 Works, Today, May 17th. is Martinus Rørbye's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #135

Martinus Rørbye  (1803–1848)

A Party of Chess Players Outside a Turkish Coffeehouse and Barbershop, c. 1845

Oil on canvas

116.7 x 147.9 x 11.3 cm

National Gallery of Denmark

Martinus Christian Wesseltoft Rørbye (17 May 1803 – 29 August 1848) was a Danish painter, known both for genre works and landscapes. He was a central figure of the Golden Age of Danish painting during the first half of the 19th century.

Martinus Rørbye was born in Drammen in Norway on 17 May 1803. . He was not inclined to schooling, but in 1820 started his studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts at 17 years of age. 

He won the Academy's small silver medal in 1824, and the large silver medal in 1828. He competed for the gold medal and won a cash prize. In 1829 he won the small gold medal for his painting Christ healing the blind, which remains in the ownership of the Royal Danish Academy. He never won the large gold medal in spite of repeated attempts.

Martinus Rørbye  (1803–1848)

A ship on the beach of Skagen, c. 1847

Oil on canvas

Height: 37 cm (14.5 in); Width: 55.5 cm (21.8 in)

Privately owned

This ship, the Ann of Sunderland, foundered at Skagens Rev, November 28 1846.

Martinus Rørbye  (1803–1848)

View from the Artist's Window, c. 1825

Oil on canvas

Height: 380 mm (14.96 in); Width: 298 mm (11.73 in)

Statens Museum for Kunst

View from the Artist's Window, is a painting by a young Rørbye around 1825, heralding the many travels he would later make with its depiction of a caged bird in an open window, on the border between the safety of his parents' home and the wide, unknown world represented by a berthed ship.

Martinus Rørbye  (1803–1848)

The Prison of Copenhagen, c. 1831

Oil on canvas

Height: 475 mm (18.70 in); Width: 630 mm (24.80 in)

Statens Museum for Kunst

The street scene from the Nytorv in Copenhagen strikes an edifying note even with its architectural surroundings. C.F. Hansen’s prison is a principal piece of Golden Age architecture. It is “eloquent” architecture with a stern look intended to instil fear of the consequences of any crime. The painting's figures in the background a young man is asking an older moneylender for a loan, while another young man points an admonitory finger to the debtor’s prison behind him. To the left of the arched doorway the transaction between the old and young women refers to the scales of Justice; the young dandy in the middle of the picture, his hand in his bulging pocket, sends lusty glances at the young mother to the right. The small signs of the characters’ less than appealing traits are commented on by the old man in the foreground. More on this painting

Rørbye first exhibited his paintings at Charlottenborg in 1824 and would do so almost every year until 1848. His works were modestly priced, and he found sufficient buyers for his pieces. The majority of his works in the 1820s consisted of views from Copenhagen and the island of Zealand, although he also painted a number of portraits including one of Lorentzen, his painting instructor.

Martinus Rorbye

En Torvedag i Wiborg/ A Market Day in Viborg, 1831

Oil on canvas laid on canvas

41×28 cm 

Private collection

Rørbye's visit to Viborg, where he was staying between 11 and 14 June. He visited friends, the Cathedral and experienced a day at the market . "I went to a market day in Viborg today, where the most important goods are, besides food, heath peat (lyngtørv), wooden shoes, and blackpots (jydepotter)".

Martinus Rorbye

Travel scene on board a Dutch canal barge, c. 1846

Oil on cardboard

28.5 x 35 cm 

Private collection

Twice, in 1830 and 1832, he traveled to Norway. On the first of these journeys he visited Jutland on the way, a rare destination for painters at that time. On 31 May 1830 he went to Århus on the paddle steamer Dania. Another passenger on the ship was Hans Christian Andersen and the two artists decided to travel together for a while. From Århus they went north, staying at the Rosenholm, Clausholm and Tjele estates. After that, Rørbye and Andersen parted with Rørbye, continuing to the remote and seldom-visited Thy province of north-western Jutland to visit relatives in Thisted. From his journals it can be concluded that he found the place deeply exotic, making detailed sketches and notes of everything from women's costumes and markets to the scenery. However, he found the landscape unsuitable for painting due to the lack of trees. On 7 July he left Thisted bound for Norway.

In Norway he painted landscapes under the influence of Johan Christian Dahl and Caspar David Friedrich.

Martinus Rorbye (1803-1848)

View from the Parthenon Between the Bars with Smoking Greeks, c. 1835

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

Martinus Rorbye (1803-1848)

Greeks Working in the Ruins of the Acropolis, Works at the Propylaea, c. 1835

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

The Parthenon is a resplendent marble temple built between 447 and 432 B.C. during the height of the ancient Greek Empire. Dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, the Parthenon sits high atop a compound of temples known as the Acropolis of Athens. Throughout the centuries, the Parthenon withstood earthquakes, fire, wars, explosions and looting yet remains, although battered, a powerful symbol of Ancient Greece and Athenian culture. More on Parthenon

Martinus Rorbye (1803-1848)

View from Parthenon at Acropolis, Athens, c. 1844

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

Martinus Rorbye

Ponte del Caravane, Smyrna, c. 1838

Watercolour on paper

29.5×40.5 cm

Private collection

Smyrna was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defense and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The modern name of the city is Izmir.

Martinus Rorbye

Tower of the Winds, Athens, c. 1839

Oil on canvas

60 x 80 cm 

Private collection

In 1834 Rørbye received a travel scholarship from the Academy on account of his talents as a portraitist. He traveled by way of the Netherlands and France to Rome, In Paris he met Peter Andreas Heiberg, August Bournonville and the French painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.

Constantin Hansen  (1804–1880)

A Group of Danish Artists in Rome, c. 1837

Oil on canvas

Height: 62 cm (24.4 in); Width: 74 cm (29.1 in)

Statens Museum for Kunst 

Depicted people: Constantin Hansen, Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll, Martinus Rørbye, Wilhelm Marstrand, Ditlev Blunck, Albert Küchler and Jørgen Sonne

When he arrived in Rome, he joined the city's thriving Danish artists community which had Bertel Thorvaldsen as its central figure. A Group of Danish Artists in Rome (See above), is a painting depicting the artist in Rome, painted by Constantin Hansen. Rørbye is number two from the left sitting behind Bindesbøll who is lying on the floor with a fez he often wore after their visit to Constantinople. Also appearing in the picture are the painter himself, Marstrand, Küchler, Blunck and Jørgen Sonne, sitting on the table.

The following year Rørbye traveled to Athens accompanied by the architect Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll, one of the compatriots he had met in Rome. From there they continued to Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire, a rare adventure in those days. He sketched prodigiously during his travels.

Martinus Rorbye

View over Palermo, in the background Monte Catalfano, c. 1840

Oil on paper laid on canvas

39.5 x 57.5 cm 

Private collection

Palermo is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is in the northwest of the island of Sicily, by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. More on Palermo

Martinus Rorbye

A cloister in Palermo with a Franciscan monk, c. 1840

Oil on canvas

50×38 cm 

Private collection

In 1837 he returned home to Copenhagen. His excellent orientalist studies from these exotic locales brought him the Danish public's attention. The Academy, recognizing the excellence of his work during his travels, invited him to apply for membership by submitting a painting. His task was to create a Turkish folk scene. His motif came from a study of a Caravan near Smyrna. It was finished in 1838 and he was unanimously voted into the Academy. His studies from Greece and Turkey continued to serve as the basis for his creative output. In this regard he admired the work of French painter Horace Vernet.

Martinus Rørbye (Danish, 1805-1848)

A Turkish notary drawing up a marriage contract in front of the Kiliç Ali Pasha Mosque, Tophane, Constantinople, c. 1837

Oil on canvas

37½ x 511/8 in. (95 x 130 cm.)

Private collection

Rørbye was fascinated by Turkish costumes. His particular fascination is visible in the precision with which he painted the notary's shawl, a Termeh, particularly popular in Eighteenth Century Turkey.

Also precise is the representation of the carpet hung behind the figures of the foreground. This carpet, particularly rare, both in its age and design, is a northwest Persian medallion Carpet, possibly a Tabriz, dating from the sixteenth century. With its spiral arabesque field and strapwork border, the piece belongs to an important group of carpets, although this particular example appears unrecorded. More on this painting

Martinus Rørbye  (1803–1848)

Sultans Ahmet III's Fountain by the Gate of the Seraglio in Constantinople, c. 1840

Pen, watercolor

29.4 cm (11.57 in.), Width: 38.5 cm (15.16 in.). Painting . Owner/Location: Amalienborg Museum - Copenhagen (Denmark)

The Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III (Turkish: III. Ahmet Çeşmesi) is a fountain in a Turkish rococo structure in the great square in front of the Imperial Gate of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. It was built under Ottoman sultan Ahmed III in 1728, in the style of the Tulip period. It was a social centre and gathering place during the Ottoman period of Constantinople. More on the fountain

That same year at the Spring Exhibition he received the Exhibition Medal, the first time it had been given out, for a painting of a scene outside the Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex, A Turkish notary (See above) witnesses a marriage contract. Typical of Rørbye are the rich colours and careful attention to detail.

Martinus Rørbye

A praying Italian woman, c. 1836

Oil on wood

42 x 30 cm

Nivågård’s Malerisamling

During his stay in Italy in the mid-1830s, Rørbye stayed in Cervara east of Rome for a few weeks at the end of October. Here he painted several oil and pencil sketches, using the locals as models, including this young girl praying kneeling in a sparsely decorated room. She is nicely dressed with a freshly stiff coat, a white embroidered shawl and a nice red pearl necklace around her neck. In the folded hands she holds a rosary that helps to emphasize her piety. Rørbye has placed her at the center of the picture in a tight triangular composition, which has probably been a conscious choice to tone down the somewhat sweetishness of the motif for a harmonious and more stringent pictorial expression. More on this painting

Martinus Rørbye  (1803–1848)

Alms. Monks distributing food to the poor in an Italian cloister

Oil on canvas

31 x 26 cm.

Private collection

Martinus Rørbye  (1803–1848)

Torvet i Amalfi/ The plaza in Amalfi, c. 1835

Oil on paper mounted on canvas

Height: 44 cm (17.3 in); Width: 63 cm (24.8 in)

Statens Museum for Kunst

During Rørbye's Grand Tour from 1834 to 1837, he travelled to both Italy, Greece and Turkey, and on 31 July 1835, he arrived in the town of Amalfi. On 18 August, he commences the present study and finishes it on 31 August. He paints under the open sky, sitting in front of the motif on the square. In his travel journal, he vividly describes all the funny incidents and shenanigans that were part of sitting and painting out in the open air surrounded by Amalfi's curious citizens. More on this painting

He married Rose Frederikke Schiøtt on 29 August 1839. His health was not good, however, and that same autumn he traveled again to Italy in the hope of renewing his strength. He painted "Torvet i Amalfi" ("The plaza in Amalfi") (See above) during this stay, and it was exhibited in 1842. He returned home in 1841.

Martinus Rørbye

Stranden ved Skagen Vesterby, c. 1847

Oil on canvas

38 x 53 cm

Nivågård’s Malerisamling

For Rørbye's contemporaries, Jutland was as exotic as Rome or the Far East. The artist was in Jutland several times and was one of the first Danish painters to discover Skagen's special qualities. On a hot and windy summer day, Rørbye has painted fishermen on the beach in Skagen unloading peat from the ships. The way of painting is free and the brushwork is wide and airy, which suggests that it is a sketch. The composition is summary and some figures and elements are only exactly indicated with a single blob of paint. It is the whole of beach, wind, wind, light and air that has interested Rørbye, and in this way he anticipates the characteristics of Skagen painting a generation before it became a concept. More on this painting

Martinus Rørbye  (1803–1848)

Fishermen from Skagen in the life boat, c. 1847

Oil on canvas

Height: 30 cm (11.8 in); Width: 42 cm (16.5 in)

Skagens Museum

Skagen is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast.

The name was applied originally to the peninsula but it now also refers to the town. The settlement began during the Middle Ages as a fishing village, renowned for its herring industry. Thanks to its seascapes, fishermen and evening light, towards the end of the 19th century it became popular with a group of impressionist artists now known as the Skagen Painters. More on Skagen

He gave private painting lessons to Christen Dalsgaard, and in 1844 became professor at the Academy's school of modelling. His health deteriorated, and he died on 29 August 1848 in Copenhagen, leaving his young wife widowed and with several small children. She exhibited twelve of his paintings, mostly of Italian subjects, in 1849.

He was one of the most traveled of the Golden Age painters, and distinguished his artistic production by his interpretations of lands rarely explored at that time for their artistic motifs, as well as for his anecdotal genre paintings depicting the Copenhagen of his day. More on Martinus Rørbye

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