He found it on top of Rome's most famous antique monument, with the three arches of the Colosseum's brickwork framing the motif. In fact, the arches create three pictures in one. They work as a type of setting that stages the motif - guides the eye and helps tell the story.
By using the three peepholes in the historic brickwork, Eckersberg succeeded in creating a unique focus on Rome at the time. It was not by accident; for Eckersberg and all the artists had their eyes turned towards the Italian capital in their search for the artistic truth. The idea is of course that you should do the same.
A piece of reality?
Notice all the details (also in the title!). Everything is there. Every little straw. Every little stone. Even the smallest crack in the crude architecture. With his precise registering and reproduction. Eckersberg caught the new trend in Europe - Naturalism which aimed to picture nature as it really looked. But don't be fooled! We are not viewing an "accidental" piece of reality. Eckersberg's spectacles are not 100% objective. He has created the motif as beautiful and seductive as possible - with classical instruments such as balance and stringent, clean lines.
And then there are the contrasts in the picture creating quiet drama: the sunlight to the left and the storm clouds to the right. The wild, crudely painted nature in the foreground and, in the background, civilised urban space painted with neat brush strokes.
The father of the Golden Age painting
It was quite new - both Eckersberg's choice of motif and his inventive framing. Eckersberg was the first artist in Denmark to be interested in the landscapes and urban spaces that were to become the principal motifs of the Golden Age (app. 1815-1850). His sharp observation and precise painting technique became the ideal for the coming generation of famous, Danish painters.
Trine Moeller Madsen is a writer on art and cultural affairs and an author. Among her works is "KUNST" ("Art") (Gyldendal, 2004), a textbook on image analysis for the oldest students in the Danish Folkeskole.
View through three of the north-western arches in Colosseum's third storey. Finished 1815 or 1816