Scene af Tobias` Historie 1826

Editor: Here we have Edvard Sonne's 1826 pencil and engraving, "Scene af Tobias` Historie," housed in the SMK. It feels very classical, almost like looking at a frieze on a Greek temple, but it’s just a sketch. It's deceptively simple, what do you see in it? Curator: Ah, Tobias! This piece sings to me of a quieter Neoclassicism, a whisper rather than a shout. Notice the spareness, the almost hesitant lines – Sonne isn’t interested in bombast here. I see a tender domesticity struggling to emerge from the strictures of the style. Are they embracing or just yearning to? That to me is the soul of this piece, don't you think? Editor: Absolutely, there's something understated about the emotions. I wouldn't immediately guess it’s from the bible. So the unfinished nature... is that part of the point? Curator: Perhaps. Or maybe Sonne saw something holy in the attempt itself, the striving to capture grace. Think of it as a half-remembered dream – beautiful in its fragmented state. We see through the veil a glimpse of familial reconciliation. Does it matter that it is biblically founded, so long as we all understand reconciliation, regardless of our upbringing or faiths? Editor: I guess the raw, unfinished style actually heightens that sense of intimacy. Curator: Precisely! It allows us to enter the scene more readily, doesn’t it? What a clever little trick, perhaps unintentionally of course, to feel included. So often the classical style feels aloof, detached. Here we’re invited into the drawing room – or perhaps into the very heart of Sonne’s artistic process. Editor: That's given me a completely new perspective on what Neoclassicism can be. I had never looked at it that way before, almost unfinished but relatable. Curator: It does have its allure and is worthy of exploration and contemplation for what it can be versus our expectation of the style.