The Image of Travelling Travel Paintings and Writings by the Danish Golden Age Painter Martinus Rørbye1
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RIHA Journal 0146 | 01 February 2017 The Image of Travelling Travel Paintings and ritings by t!e "anis! #olden Age Painter $artinus R%rbye1 Karina Lykke Grand Abstract T!e "anis! &ainter $artinus R%rbye was one o( t!e "anis! artists to reinvent t!e traditions o( t!e genre o( travel &ainting in t!e 1830s+ His develo&,ent o( a ne' -o,&le. &i-torial strategy was in ,any ways an answer to t!e -!anges in so-iety, es&e-ially t!e advent o( touris,+ T!e ne' travel i,age !ad its (o-us on -on-urren-y, everyday li(e and t!e se-ular world/ resulting in i,ages t!at anti-i&ated t!e &!otogra&!i- travel i,age/ t!e sna&s!ot and t!e travel &ost-ard+ T!e advent o( t!is ne' strategy &roved to !ave a very long a(ter0li(e/ as tourists and travellers o( today still lean a great deal on t!e i,age -odes t!at R%rbye and !is (ello' artists o( t!e 1830s invented+ T!e ai, o( t!e arti-le is to elaborate on R%rbye’s 2rst 3uro&ean so4ourn in 1834-1837, and it is ,y intention to (ra,e t!e -onditions o( doing su-! a tri& 'it! attention to '!at R%rbye sa' and e.&erien-ed and !o' !e inter&reted t!is 5nowledge/ visually and in words+ R%rbye is ,y &ri,ary resear-! (o-us/ but !is artisti- struggles are very si,ilar to ot!er artists travelling in Italy at t!e ti,e+ I t!ere(ore use $artinus R%rbye’s Italian so4ourn as a pris, o( inter&retation+ Contents $artinus R%rbye’s Italian so4ourn as a pris, o( inter&retation 6ew modes o( travelling T!e artisti- idea o( travelling #oing sout! by stea, s!i& and horse0drawn ve!i-les – heading for Paris T!e po&ular mountains T!e trans-ri&tion o( Martinus R%rbye’s travel diary T!e written e.&erien-e o( Ro,e and t!e li(e in Ro,e Tourists in Na&les and o8 t!e beaten tra-5 to Pro-ida Pi-tures9ue Sorrento :ubia-o :tatus o( t!e frst journey 1 The article ;The I,age o( Travelling+ Travel Paintings and ritings by t!e Danis! #olden Age Painter $artinus R%rbye< is a condensed and elaborated version o( a Danish article= <Dannelsesre4sen til Italien+ "et nye re4sebillede</ in= $artinus R%rbye+ "et n>re og det (4erne/ eds. ?irgitte von Folsa-! and :idsel $aria :%ndergaard/ e.!+ cat+/ &ublished by @regaard $useu,/ :5ovgaard $useet/ 6ivaagaards $alerisa,ling and Ribe Aunst,useu,/ Helleru& 2014/ 160-1B2+ RIHA Journal 0146 | 01 February 2017 Revisiting Italy 3.it= R%rbye’s travel painting Martinus R%rbye’s Italian so4ourn as a &ris, o( inter&retation C1D In $ay 1834, t!e "anis! &ainter $artinus R%rbye le(t Eo&en!agen (or !is 2rst sout!ern so4ourn+ A!ead o( !i, lay t!ree years o( intensive studies o( 3uro&ean -ulture and art+ "uring !is travels !e 2lled several s5et-!boo5s wit! drawings in &en-il and s5et-!es in water-olour in various siFes/ and !e -o,&leted nu,erous oil &aintings t!e,atising t!e sout!+ Gn a daily basis/ !e wrote to !is (a,ily and (riends in "en,ar5/ and in addition !e 5e&t a &ersonal diary 'it! re-ords o( !is nu,erous e.&erien-es o( all t!e pla-es !e visited+ R%rbye’s travel diary (ro, t!e years 1834-1837 is loaded wit! interesting in(or,ation/ and alt!oug! its style is very &rivate/ -on-ise and brie(/ as it was not intended (or &ubli-ation/2 it -ontains uni9ue and un2ltered re-ords o( great relevan-e (or t!e reader interested in art !istory and -ultural !istory o( t!e early nineteent! century+ C2D !en we -o,&are R%rbye’s diary entries 'it! !is &aintings and drawings/ it is stri5ing t!at t!ey are (ar (ro, -orres&onding in t!eir ,essage= T!ey al,ost give t!e i,&ression t!at t!e visual universe &ortrayed in R%rbye’s &i-tures reHe-ts anot!er 4ourney t!an t!e written word in !is diary+ T!ese di8eren-es bet'een word and i,age are t!e sub4e-t o( t!is arti-le/ and t!e ai, is to investigate t!e nature o( t!ese dissi,ilarities and to analyse t!e results in relation to innovative -!anges in t!e &i-torial vo-abulary and con-e&t o( travel i,ages as a genre+* C*D ?y (o-using on R%rbye’s 2rst tri& to t!e :out! in 183401837, it is ,y intention to (ra,e t!e -onditions o( underta5ing su-! a tour in t!e 1830s 'it! attention to '!at R%rbye sa' and e.&erien-ed and !o' !e inter&reted t!is 5nowledge/ visually and in words. R%rbye is my pri,ary resear-! fo-us, but his artisti- battles were indeed si,ilar 2 At t!e ti,e/ it 'as very &o&ular to &ublish one1s travel e.&erien-es a(ter returning (ro, long 4ourneys abroad+ For Danis! re(erences see= E+ H+ Pra,/ <6oget o, Iystreiser/ ,ed Anviisning til en saadan</ in= "et skandinaviske Iitteraturselskabs :kri(ter/ 2nd ed+/ Eo&en!agen 1)06/ *JB-44*K Jens ?aggesen/ Iabyrinten eller Reise gienne, Tydskland/ :-!'eitF og Fran5erig/ 2 vols./ Eo&en!agen 17B2-17B*/ and re&rint/ Eo&en!agen 200JK 6+ T+ ?ruun (trans.Med+N/ $agaFin (or de allernyeste og interessanteste Reisebeskrivelser/ Eo&en!agen 1)17-1)20+ * For ,ore in(or,ation on t!e e.isting traditions co,&ared 'it! t!e ne' traditions, see= Aarina Iy55e #rand/ <Re4sebilleder 7 Turist i Ar5adien</ in= #OI" 7 :5atte (ra den dans5e guldalder/ eds. Aarina Iy55e #rand and Iise Pennington/ Aar!us 201*/ 200-2*BK Aarina Iy55e #rand/ <PP re4se ,ed Thorald ?rendstru&+ Iandskabsbilleder (ra det 5endte og u5endte 3uro&a</ in= Thorald ?rendstru&+ I guldalderens skygge/ eds. #ertrud Gelsner and Ingeborg ?ugge/ Aar!us 2012/ 77-104K Aarina Iy55e #rand/ <Turist i guldalderen 7 &P re4se ,ed $artinus R%rbye</ in= Passe&artout 2B/ n+ 1J (200BN/ BJ-112 (Te,anu,,er= Dansk guldalder i nyt lys/ eds. Aarina Iy55e #rand et al+NK Aarina Iy55e #rand/ <Odsigt til Italien+ PP re4se ,ed P+ E+ :5ovgaard</ in= P+ E+ :5ovgaard+ Dansk guldalder revurderet/ eds. Aarina Iy55e #rand and #ertrud Gelsner/ Aar!us 2010/ 12*-166K Aarina Iy55e #rand/ Dansk guldalder+ Re4sebilleder/ Aar!us 2012+ RIHA Journal 0146 | 01 February 2017 to t!ose (a-ing t!e ,a4ority o( ot!er artists travelling in Italy at t!e ti,e+ I t!ere(ore use Martinus R%rbye’s Italian so4ourn as a pris, o( my inter&retation+ 6ew ,odes o( travelling C4D Qiewed in t!e 'ider &ers&e-tive o( t!e !istory o( ,entalities/ R%rbye’s so4ourn too5 &la-e at a ti,e o( great -!ange/ wit! travelling -onditions as 'ell as travel -ulture being trans(or,ed ra&idly due to -!anges in so-ieties/ ,entalities and te-!nology+ Fro, t!e late 1820s/ t!e ne'ly invented stea,s!i& ,ade it &ossible to travel to a nu,ber o( destinations by seaK and (ro, t!e ,id01830s onwards railway lines 'ere under -onstru-tion on t!e -ontinent+ 6e' o&&ortunities (or travelling 'ere be-o,ing available/ and travelling ti,es 'ere being redu-ed+ :ea and rail travel started to be regulated by ti,etables (ollowing in-reasingly 2.ed routes/ and t!is -!anged t!e i,age o( t!e uni9ue/ lonely traveller on t!e -ontinent+ Gne o( t!e &ositive -onse9uen-es o( t!ese ne' colle-tive/ e8e-tive routes by sea and land was t!at &ri-es (ell 7 it was -!ea&er to ta5e a nu,ber o( &assengers to t!e sa,e destinations t!an to trans&ort &eo&le individually+ In addition to t!is/ ,ore and ,ore &eo&le (ro, various &arts o( so-iety got t!e o&&ortunity to travel. CJD T!e -lassi-al #rand Tour/ '!i-! was on-e t!e e.-lusive &rivilege o( t!e nobility in sear-! o( -ultural edu-ation abroad/ was no' wit!in t!e rea-! o( t!e u&&er bourgeoisie as well+ In t!is &ers&e-tive it be-o,es i,&ortant to ,ention t!at t!e grou& o( "anis! artists at t!e Royal "anis! A-ade,y o( Fine Arts '!o were 4ust about to travel to Italy, all belonged to t!e bourgeoisie/ in-luding R%rbye+ As revealed in t!is arti-le/ t!e -las!es between t!e nobility travelling 2rst -lass and t!e bourgeoisie travelling se-ond or t!ird -lass !ad so,e -on-e&tual and ideologi-al i,&li-ations wit! regard to w!at were per-eived as corre-t and in-orre-t ways o( travelling+ C6D It is also i,&ortant to ,ention t!at wit! regard to t!e rise o( touris,/ t!e end o( t!e 6a&oleoni- wars in 1815 !ad an enor,ous i,&a-t on t!e nu,bers o( travellers on -ontinental 3uro&e+ "uring t!ese wars ?ritis! travellers !ad been isolatedK but t!ey -ould no' go on t!e #rand Tour to Italy again/ and t!is led to a strea, o( 3nglis!,en on t!e -ontinent+ In t!e 2eld o( touris, resear-!/ t!is event is also 5nown as t!e R3nglis! invasionR/4 and t!e e.&erien-e o( t!e ,any 3nglis! travellers gave rise to ,any co,,ents in Danis! artists1 travel diaries and letters/ as we will see belo'+ T!e artistic idea o( travelling C7D All in all/ t!e -!anges in travel &atterns and ways o( travelling in 3uro&e !ad t!e -onse9uen-e t!at travellers li5e R%rbye e.&erien-ed a Houris!ing touris, 7 (or instan-e in -ertain &arts o( Italy and in :witFerland+ To ,any o( t!e artists/ t!ese e.&erien-es -a,e as a sur&rise be-ause t!ey !ad e.&e-ted to en-ounter a &ure Ar-adia untou-!ed by ot!er travellers+ ?ut t!eir e.&e-tations were -learly out o( tou-! wit! current realities+ 4 Ja,es ?uFard/ The ?eaten Tra-5 7 3uro&ean Tourism/ Iiterature/ and t!e ays to Eulture/ 1)00-1B1)/ 6e' Sor5 1BB*+ RIHA Journal 0146 | 01 February 2017 C)D Gne o( t!e reasons '!y t!e artists/ (or instan-e R%rbye/ but also !is "anis! (ello' artists il!el, ?endF/ J+ T!+ Iundbye (1818-1848), il!el, $arstrand (1810-1873), E!risten A%b5e (1810-1848), Eonstantin Hansen/ P+ E+ :5ovgaard (1817-1875) and J%rgen :onne (180101890) a,ong ot!ers/ were un-o,(ortable 'it! t!e une.&e-ted o--urren-es o( touris, abroad was &robably t!e la-5 o( a narrative and visual re-ognition o( t!e sites visited -o,&ared to t!e ,aster narrative o( so4ourning in Italy+ 6obody !ad ever told t!e,/ t!at travelling to Italy o(ten (elt li5e being on a beaten !ig! way+ Typi-ally, t!e "anis! artists !ad be-o,e (a,iliar 'it! t!e idea o( travelling t!roug! t!e travel &aintings and i,ages &rodu-ed by t!e &ro(essors and tea-!ers at t!e Royal "anis! A-ade,y o( Fine Arts in Eo&en!agen/ '!o !ad been on t!eir Italian so4ourn at t!e beginning o( t!e nineteent! -entury 7 (or instan-e E+ + 3-5ersberg (1793-1853) and J+ I+ Iund L1777-1867).