View from the Citadel Ramparts in Copenhagen by Moonlight
1839
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
11 3/8 x 9 5/8 in. (28.9 x 24.4 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2007
Accession Number
2007.164.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step onto the moonlit ramparts of Copenhagen Citadel with Martinus Rbye's captivating *View from the Citadel Ramp in Copenhagen by Moonlight (1839). This oil on canvas, measuring just 11⅜ × 9⅝ inches, transports us to Denmark's Golden Age of Painting, Rørbye—a master of luminous landscapes—blended Romanticism with precise observation. Silhouetted soldiers and distant ships emerge from the velvety night, bathed in the ethereal glow of moonlight, evoking a sense of quiet vigilance over the harbor. Painted during a period of national pride and maritime expansion in 19th-century Denmark, the scen...