In the winter of 1883, the Danish artist Th. Philipsen began work on the painting Ved en fontana udenfor Rom på Via Flaminia (At a fountain outside Rome on Via Flaminia). Like so many contemporary Danish artists, Philipsen had travelled to Italy, where he spent a year and a half, partly in Rome and partly in the small town of Sora in the foothills of the Abruzzi Apennines.

The letters he sent home to Denmark outline his progress on this large open-air painting, which he worked on throughout his Italian sojourn.

The director of The Hirschsprung Collection, Marianne Saabye, discovered the painting, which has previously been in Danish ownership, at a Roman art gallery, and funds from the New Carlsberg Foundation made it possible to repatriate the painting to Denmark.

Marianne Saabye holds Th. Philipsen in high esteem and calls this painting a principal work in his production and a crucial contribution to Danish naturalism.

‘There are sixteen known studies and paintings from Philipsen’s Italian sojourn, and they demonstrate the experimental and diverse character of his treatment of light and his use of impasto techniques, which were far removed from his Danish training. In this large painting from Via Flaminia he brings together the experiences from his sojourn,’ Marianne Saabye explains.

A slice of everyday life
That Th. Philipsen excelled in depicting animal life is obvious; the donkeys in the foreground dominate the composition. However, the painting has an unusually monumental character as well as very rich detailing, both in the composition and in the observations of light, shadow effects and the reflections in the water, Marianne Saabye points out.

‘Here, in the spirit of naturalism, Philipsen offered a new realistic view of Italian street life with a portrayal of an everyday scenario that stands in contrast to the more colourful, romantic interpretation that is typical of the Golden Age of Danish painting.’

In addition, the painting has a cultural history dimension, as we know from Joakim Skovgaard’s contemporary letters from Rome that the artists would take their daily meals at the now closed Antica Trattoria di Papa Giulio depicted in the background. Also, Th. Philipsen’s studio was only a few buildings away.