The Russian Ship of the Line "Asow" and a Frigate at Anchor in the Roads of Elsinore
Russian warships at anchor off Elsinore, with Kronborg Castle behind — a real setting, but the ships were studied at Copenhagen and moved there.
Kronborg Castle
A standpoint is recorded for this painting, but it has not been independently confirmed against a museum or scholarly source, so treat it as approximate.
The Russian Ship of the Line "Asow" and a Frigate at Anchor in the Roads of Elsinore — at a glance
- Artist
- Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (1783–1853)
- Year
- 1828
- Movement
- Danish Golden Age
- Place
- The Øresund off Elsinore (Helsingør), Denmark; Kronborg Castle behind
- Viewpoint
- A composed scene — the ships studied at Copenhagen, set in the Elsinore roads
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Now at
- National Gallery of Denmark (SMK), Copenhagen
Overview
This is a marine painting by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, the founder of the Danish ‘Golden Age’ school, made in 1828. It shows a Russian ship of the line, the Asow, and a frigate lying at anchor in calm water, with the tower of Kronborg Castle at the right. It is oil on canvas and hangs in the National Gallery of Denmark (Statens Museum for Kunst) in Copenhagen.
Where was The Russian Ship of the Line "Asow" and a Frigate at Anchor in the Roads of Elsinore painted?
Scholarship Eckersberg had studied the Russian ships when they lay at Copenhagen. For the painting he moved them north to the roadstead off Elsinore (Helsingør), at the narrowest point of the Øresund, and put Kronborg Castle — the fortress of Shakespeare's Hamlet — behind them. The place is real and unchanged, but the scene is a composed one rather than a recorded view.
What is in the painting?
The three-decked Asow fills the centre, seen from off her port quarter, sails furled, flags out. A smaller frigate lies beyond. The water is almost flat, the light clear and even; the low green shore and the square keep of Kronborg close the view at the right.
Look closely
The Asow
The three-decked ship of the line at the centre, seen from off her port quarter with sails furled and flags flying.
Kronborg Castle
The square keep and tower at the right — the fortress guarding the Øresund at Elsinore.
The flat calm
The water is almost mirror-still, the light clear and even — the conditions Eckersberg preferred.
Analysis
Composition and technique
A precisely drawn ship portrait — every spar and gunport in place — set in a wide, calm expanse of water and sky.
Scholarship Eckersberg trained his eye on exact observation and perspective; the rigging and hull are rendered with near-technical accuracy, and the ship is placed low in a broad, luminous field of water and pale sky. The calm and the clarity are as much the subject as the vessel.
History & provenance
The painting is in the National Gallery of Denmark (SMK) in Copenhagen, which holds the largest collection of Eckersberg's work.
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Sources
- Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK), Copenhagen — collection entry for C. W. Eckersberg, ‘The Russian Ship of the Line “Asow” and a Frigate at Anchor in the Roads of Elsinore’ (1828)
- Kasper Monrad, ‘Danish Golden Age Painting’ (SMK)
Related paintings
Current display status
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