Illustration til "Halvhundrede Fabler for Børn" af Hey 1834

Martinus Rørbye created this illustration for "Halvhundrede Fabler for Børn" using pen and ink. It depicts two men, likely farmers, working with tools outside a building in a wintery landscape. Rørbye was a key figure in the Danish Golden Age, a period of intense national identity formation. His art often idealised rural life, reflecting the social and cultural values of the time. The image evokes a sense of hard work and rustic simplicity, which aligns with the romantic nationalism prevalent in Denmark during the 19th century. This was a period when artists and writers turned to folklore and rural imagery to define Danish identity, in response to larger European political movements. To understand this illustration fully, one could research the fables it accompanies, as well as the agricultural practices and social hierarchies of 19th-century rural Denmark. Art history, at its best, situates the artwork within its broader social and institutional context.