Religi⊘sitet i arbejder af den danske guldaldermaler Albert Küchler, belyst ved en ikonologisk studie

Abstract

Summary Religiousness in Works by the Danish Goldenage Painter Albert Küchler. — An Iconological Study Albert Küchler (1803–86) belonged to the group of Danish painters (Vilhelm Marstrand, Constantin Hansen, J⊘rgen Sonne, J⊘rgen Roed etc.) who were pupils of C. W. Eckersberg and J. L. Lund at The Royal Academy in Copenhagen in 1820's. The fellowship of artists founded in Copenhagen was continued in Rome in the circle around Bertel Thorvaldsen. The German group the Nazarenes and their artistic programme were also important to Küchler. Küchler was born in Copenhagen. He won the great Gold Medal at the Academy in 1829 and the travel scholarship to go with it. In 1830 he arrived in Rome and never returned to Denmark. After 14 years in Italy he converted to Catholicism. His friends were critical and amazed at his new religious attitude. Later, in 1852, he entered the Order of St Francis, becoming a friar in the monastery St.Bonaventura at the Palatine Hill in Rome, where he died in 1886. The Pope gave him special permission to continue his artistic work in the monastery and gave him several assignments. However, most of his works are unknown in Denmark today. He was highly esteemed by his contemporaries. In 1877 he was awarded membership of the Royal Academy in Copenhagen and even a pension from Denmark. “Correggio's Death” (1834) (Fig. 1), “A Roman Couple Buy a Hat for Their Little Son who is to Become an Abbate” (1840) (Fig. 2), both Thorvald‐sen's Museum, Copenhagen, and “The Annunciation’ (1841) (Fig. 4), the altarpiece in Esb⊘n‐derup church in North Zealand, are the paintings chosen for the analysis. Fig. 1 is inspired by the tragedy Correggio by the Danish poet Adam Oehlenschläger. The composition suggests that Küchler was influenced by Renaissance pictures; but in the naturalistic description of the landscape the work represents the Golden Age painter's own time as regards style and method. In Küchler's picture Correggio's tale of woe, as described in the tragedy, is transformed into a version of the Passion of Jesus Christ through the use of Catholic iconography; the names of the figures are in accordance with this tradition. The analysis leads to the interpretation that Küchler's intention was to create a work of art loaded with religious significance and not just a scene from the tragedy. When religious motifs are present in Küchler's genre pictures and drawings, they are always treated with a certain respect for the Catholic world. Such respect is not seen in similar works by his Danish contemporaries, who often give such motifs a comical and grotesque appearance (Vilhelm Marstrand, Ernst Meyer). The title of Fig. 2 indicating the anecdote, the focus on the significance of the Catholic symbols, as well as the composition and the formal language all point to the interpretation that Küchler's intention might be a wish to present an event of great importance in a Catholic community. Comparing the altarpiece, Fig. 4, with similar works painted in 1841 by Küchler's colleagues in Rome it appears that he alone chose Mary as the main figure. The motif itself and all the well‐known symbols from old Catholic ecclesiastical art are represented in the picture, and Mary appears divine the way she is painted. Again the composition and the elaboration seem to be inspired by early Renaissance art. In 1930 the Danish painter Harald Moltke wrote about Küchler's altarpiece, “It is pure Renaissance”. This corresponds to the artistic programme of the Nazarenes, whose main purpose was to go back to the old art and spirit. Nevertheless Küchler uses the range of colours and the technique of his own time, so the picture presents itself as an independent and original work of art. The iconological analysis of these three pictures all painted before his conversion shows his positive attitude to and interest in the Catholic church, but coloured by his own personality, temperament and education. In addition, it seems as if there is a further distinctive character in all his works even from the time before he left Denmark, which might be called a well‐balanced tranquillity. This tranquillity is clearly related to Küchler's life in the monastery. According to the sources it seems to have characterized his whole life and it is evident in the few known portraits of him.