Rejsedagbog. Firenze 1846

Curator: Let's explore this page from Johan Thomas Lundbye's "Rejsedagbog. Firenze," or "Travel Diary. Florence," created in 1846. This small drawing on paper, a miniature really, comes to us from the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. Editor: It has an intimate, almost secretive feel, doesn't it? The close-up script filling the page like a whispered confession. I am immediately drawn to the contrast between the dense text and the stark white of the paper, gives me the impression that Lundbye just wanted to put pen to paper at that moment. Curator: Absolutely, and the density speaks to the intellectual fervor of the time. Lundbye was a Romantic painter deeply influenced by nationalist sentiments. The journal reveals not just observations, but also a personal reckoning with history and identity. Notice the consistent handwriting, but almost incomprehensible language to a modern reader as its old Danish. The tight uniform columns on the left side feel to me to be a man’s mind working something out. Editor: Like he's capturing his impressions as much as the physical place, right? This isn’t some objective record—he's grappling with the city and processing it through the lens of his own Romantic spirit. This little snippet, with all the energy the letters provide makes one wonder. Is it some love story or historical event he found interesting? Curator: I'd say that interpretation isn’t too far fetched considering this was when Romanticism was the main inspiration for many artist. We have to consider too that Lundbye would eventually die, at just 27, in the First Schleswig War defending Denmark. This page therefore gains some emotional significance I would suggest as one reads it’s the working out of ones mortality in ones personal journal. Editor: I never knew that, tragic that the man who made the text also became a part of his national story. So then, that gives these markings the idea that they’re less notes, and rather…reminders, about love and death. Very Romantic if you ask me! Curator: Exactly! The diary, viewed through the contexts of nationalism, Romanticism, and even impending doom offers a poignant insight into the artist’s mind during this pivotal moment in his short, but intensely productive, life. Editor: I think it also shows that diaries from any kind of artist from painter to poet are really windows into their inner workings; both grounding and opening up possibilities to understand.