KøbenhanskeMotiver_1587-1807

1 3 8 V IEW FROM ØSTERBRO T OW AR D S COPENHAGEN 1 8 0 1

and at 10 a.m. they commenced the battle which lasted five hours, ending in the defeat of the Danes. C. A . Lo- rentzen, the painter, watched the battle from the spire of the Church of Our Saviour, from where he commanded a wide view. Here he made some rough drawings which were later transferred to canvas. (The prepatory drawings are in the Printroom of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and in the Frederiksborg Museum, where the oil painting also is). W ith this as his model J. F. Clemens engraved this large sheet 18 0 2 - 0 5 . Besides depicting one of the episodes in the battle it also represents a topographically correct picture of the Navy's shipyards and buildings on the many islands. In the foreground Christianshavns Canal and Tran- graven, on the right Bodenhoffs plads and the Arsenal island with the rigging houses, and finally Nyholm with the rigging sheers. The warehouse in the foreground to the left belonged to Greenland Trade. In the background the two sea forts: Lunetten and Trekroner. Reproduced p. 8 3 . 1 3 7 THE BATTLE OF COPENHAGEN APRIL 2 , 18 0 1 This very naive gouache is topographically more accurate than Clemens' engraving. Like the prepatory drawing for that, the gouache must have been executed after sketches and observations from the spire of the Church of Our Saviour. On the whole the view is the same, but Butty's dramatical sense is limited to the sea battle itself out on the roads, and consequently the representation of Nyholm and all the buildings is more meticulous. It is important to notice that the picture includes the rampart of Christianshavn; between this and the long inhabited islands in the centre we have the wind mill of the Holmen and in the foreground the islet of Pramlauget. To the left in the foreground rise the rigging sheers of Christians- holm, which are now demolished, and behind it a long footbridge leads out to the guardhouse at Honsebron (the hens' bridge). A number of replicas exist of this picture (Frederiksborg Museum, 0regaard, the Naval Museum, and an oil painting in the City Museum of Copenhagen).

The view is with the words of the artist himself " . . . taken from the balcony of the country seat belonging to Coun­ cillor Classen, July 2 nd, 1 8 0 1 . " The country seat of Peter Hersleb Classen stood between Østerbrogade and the Sound and is also known from a number of watercolours done by the same artist. In this view he depicts Classen's garden and the beautiful country side bordering on the city. The watercolour belongs to a series of four in all with motifs from Classen's garden (the City Museum). Reproduced p. 8 5 . The outline of the city is copied after J. M . Haas' view from 17 8 5 (see cat. no. 1 1 9 ), with the corrections, how­ ever, necessitated by the fire of the Palace in 1 7 9 4 and the city fire the following year. In the foreground the artist inserted a couple of set pieces, on the left a sculpture in front of a group of trees, and on the right a Doric temple facade. 1 4 0 KRONPRINSESSEGADE 18 0 4 After the fire 1 7 9 5 Christian VII donated to the corpora­ tion a strip of the King's Garden so that the latter by selling land could acquire resources for expropriating lots elsewhere with a view to road extensions etc. 180 2 Peter Meyn presented his plan for 1 6 pavilions, which connected with a fence were to demarcate the garden along Gothers- gade and Kronprinsessegade. Although Bundsen's drawing is the first reproduction of this new, modern and magni­ ficent specimen of a street, it nevertheless has quite a few inaccuracies - perhaps he made a sketch during a visit to Copenhagen which was later in Altona transferred to this sheet. In any case, the existing gateway at the corner of the two streets is flanked by pavilions and much more 13 9 COPENHAGEN SEEN FROM THE NORTHWEST 180 2

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