Portrait of the Sculptor Hermann Ernst Freund
1837
Medium
Graphite; at left and below, framing line in graphite, possibly by the artist
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 1/16 × 6 5/8 in. (12.9 × 16.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2016
Accession Number
2016.675
Tags
Art Historical Context
Christen Købke's *Portrait of the Sculptor Ernst Freund* (1837) captures a quiet moment of camaraderie among Denmark's artistic elite during the Golden Age of Danish painting. Købke, a leading figure in this era (roughly 1800–1850), was renowned for his luminous portraits and landscapes that celebrated everyday Danish life with poetic realism. Here, he Freund, a prominent neoclassical sculptor and collaborator on Copenhagen's Thorvaldsen, in a sensitive graphite drawing that highlights their shared world of creativity. Rendered on a modest sheet (5 1/16 × 6 5/8 in.), the work showcases Købke'...