Den atheniensiske konge Kodros forlader sit hjem for ukendt at vandre mod fjenderne, til venstre hans kone og søn 1743 - 1809

Curator: Oh, my! Look at this wash drawing! It just speaks of vulnerability and noble sacrifice. Editor: Indeed. This work by Nicolai Abildgaard, created between 1743 and 1809, is titled, "Den atheniensiske konge Kodros forlader sit hjem for ukendt at vandre mod fjenderne, til venstre hans kone og søn" – "The Athenian King Kodros Leaves his Home to Wander Unknown Towards the Enemy, his Wife and Son on the Left." It is currently held at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. We see a figure in watercolor and pencil. The bare feet, the sparse possessions... this isn’t just sacrifice, it’s deliberate divestment. What do you sense here? Curator: An aching… yearning. It reminds me of saying goodbye, of choosing duty even when it splinters your very being. He goes willingly towards his end, not for glory, but to protect his own. What a poignant act of love. I get goosebumps! It’s all lines, the immediacy, and that warm sepia wash suggesting a sunset of life. Editor: Right! And consider the artistic economy at play. Look at the figure walking toward the unknown, all essentials bundled on his back, the tools necessary for this sacrifice. Think about the scarcity implied in these choices of rendering with simple materials, reflecting the lean necessities of war itself and also pointing to his agency within the creative labor behind artmaking. It wasn't oil painting on canvas—no! Abildgaard opted for humbler stuff. Why? Curator: Perhaps because the starkness amplifies the human cost. No grandiosity to soften the blow. It’s immediate, raw, visceral, hitting right in the gut. Editor: Exactly. By choosing this process and by making his statement like this, he brings us face-to-face with essential human decisions made for survival that resonate well beyond classical antiquity. The man on the way and his family there: a snapshot into human vulnerability but told using few resources. Curator: It makes you think. It almost feels wrong to analyze it. Editor: Maybe… but the more you contemplate how art like this speaks of humanity and the value in hard and smart material choices, it allows the message and emotions to live well past the moment of creation.