Rosenlauigletscher 1868

Janus la Cour rendered 'Rosenlauigletscher' in watercolor on paper. La Cour was a landscape painter, deeply influenced by the national romantic movement in 19th-century Denmark. This movement emphasized the beauty and uniqueness of the Danish landscape as a source of national identity and pride. But consider the complexities of 'national identity' during this period. Who was included, and who was excluded? As Denmark grappled with questions of sovereignty and cultural distinctiveness, landscape paintings became powerful tools for shaping collective memory. La Cour’s glaciers, dramatic mountains, and expansive vistas, typically unpopulated, reinforce an idea of pristine, untouched nature. But, whose nature is it? What narratives are left out when we focus solely on the sublime? Perhaps the true subject is not the landscape itself, but the stories we project onto it. The glacier may evoke feelings of national pride, but can also remind us of the power of nature, both beautiful and destructive.