The Forum of Pompeii with Vesuvius in the Distance by Kobke in the Getty Center, June 2016

Title: The Forum, Pompeii, with Vesuvius in the Distance

Artist/Maker: Christen Schjellerup Købke (Danish, 1810 - 1848)

Culture: Danish

Date: 1841

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 70.8 × 87.9 cm (27 7/8 × 34 5/8 in.)

Signed: Signed and dated lower right: "C.Kobke 1841"

Alternate Titles: The Forum at Pompeii with Vesuvius in the Distance (Display Title)
The Forum at Pompeii with Vesuvius in the Background (Published Title)

Department: Paintings

Classification: Paintings

Object Type: Painting

Object Number: 85.PA.43

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Under a brilliant, clear blue sky, a sense of stillness and abandonment prevails in this scene, reinforced by creeping vegetation, grazing goats, and lizards scurrying across a dirt path. Behind the ancient city of Pompeii, Vesuvius silently looms, its presence serving as a terrifying reminder of the havoc it wrought in A.D. 79, when the city and its residents were buried beneath its molten lava. Christen Schjellerup Købke drew the architectural remains of the forum with sharp precision, giving the painting a sense of order and clarity. He added a sense of drama by intensifying the contrast between light and dark, painting the foreground fragments almost completely in shadow.

Excavations of the buried city began in 1748 and continue to this day. Scholars and curiosity seekers came in droves to see the ancient ruins. Købke was one of many artists to visit the site, where he made detailed studies. After returning to his native Copenhagen, he set to work on this painting.


Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/757/christen-schjellerup-kbke-the-forum-pompeii-with-vesuvius-in-the-distance-danish-1841